Alive Again
by C S Sinclair
Summary: Jill Valentine and Ada Wong each discover the other is a reason to keep fighting in the harsh and cruel world of Resident Evil.
1. Chapter 1

**Alive again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter One.**

'Put whatever you're holding down'.

Starting in surprise, she heard the familiar click of a gun being readied behind her.

'Don't make any sudden moves, just do as I say. Drop what you're holding and put your hands up - _now_.'

Sighing deeply, she realized that there was no alternative. She tossed the jeans back into the bottom of the closet, and raised her arms over her head.

'Look, I know this…'

'Okay, stand up and turn around – s_lowly'. _

'Will you just give me a minute to expl…' she began, but was inevitably interrupted.

'Now!'

Sighing again, she raised herself up from her crouching position, then turned slowly about as instructed. Jill was sitting up in the far corner of the bed. The lamps were still off, so she couldn't see her face, but she could _feel_ the expression of betrayal. She felt that familiar icy twist inside of her, that came with the knowledge that she'd committed a reprehensible act. But unlike other times, this time she really cared about it. She'd hurt Jill by this, she could tell. And it felt different than it ever had before... it felt truly horrible.

Jill must have been faking her slumber, she decided, as she seemed wide awake from her posture. She shook her head, amazed that she hadn't caught it. For someone who was naturally open and expressive, that had been pretty sly of her girl.

Her girl… That was getting ahead of herself - but it felt so good to say it.

'Something funny? You seem very amused by all this" Jill demanded.

Jill probably wouldn't react very well if she told her the truth just yet. And what right did she have to think such thoughts? Look at what she'd done – Jill looked so wounded, humiliated and angry, trying to cover herself with the sheets. She felt wretched for doing this to her.

'I'm not laughing at you! I was just happy because…' She shook her head in frustration – this sort of thing was much easier when you didn't mean it. She did that all the time, but this was impossible. How did people do it?

'Look, it… it won't be like this, I swear' she protested. 'This evening, the time we just spent together – _that's _how it'll be. I never wanted to hurt you and I can prove it. If you'll just…'

Jill leant forward with a look of pure confused disgust. Her heart sank – this wasn't going very well.

'Stop, just stop okay? I've heard some excuses before, but this… I mean, I catch you stealing and…'

She started in protest at this, but at a gesture from the gun, raised her hands again in frustration:

'That's not what I'm doing here, and you know it!' she countered angrily. Well, it wasn't the _main_ reason anyway…

'Oh I do, do I? You were just tidying up, I suppose? Not planning to steal anything at all? However could I have come to that conclusion? ' Jill snapped bitterly.

'Look, you're angry, I know' she pleaded gently, desperate to set things right. 'And I'm sorry I wasn't quieter about it, but…'

'What? You think I'd rather have woken up tomorrow morning and found all my stuff gone? You have a warped way of thinking, lady!'

'That's not... I don't care how it looks - I'm here because I want to be with you!' she replied, her voice almost a shout as her frustration started to boil over. Her defiant response seemed to take Jill by surprise, and she seemed momentarily lost for words. Actually, she was just as surprised at the passion in her voice herself – real feelings were very different from affected ones…

'You wish I'd never moved or that you'd just gone to sleep; anything so we'd still be lying there together. This evening meant something to you, I know it did - deny it if you can, go on!"

Jill was evidently stunned at this outburst, and said nothing. She decided she had to use this time to press forward.

"Jill, this isn't what you think it is" she explained, taking a step forward, but stopping short as Jill sat up, alert again and with both hands on the gun now.

"How do you know my real name? I never told you my name was Jill, and there's no ID with that name in this room."

Jill had seemed unsure of that last point for a second. What... Ohh. She nodded in mild surprise as the answer struck her.

"So _this_ is your 'safe room' huh? I _wondered_ where that gun had come from – you didn't have it earlier. I notice those sorts of things. The hotel manager set this up for you?"

"What difference does it make where I got the gun?"

She looked at Jill, with a grin threatening to spread over her face. Okay - she'd play...

"That gun is police issue, and I'm betting the manager gives you this space because he's thinks you're still a cop too."

"…Your point being?"

She dropped her arms a bit, and got a fresh threat for her trouble.

"_Stop doing that!_" Jill snapped. She imagined and certainly hoped that Jill was more scared of having to fire, than anything she might try though.

"I'm getting tired. I can't keep holding my arms out all night – what's left of it anyway. You took most of my energy..."

"Oh, _please_…"

Jill looked thoroughly disgusted, but after pondering for a few seconds, motioned for her to drop her arms to her sides. She did so, in as casual a fashion as she could. Her heart rate had slowed, but this was still a tricky situation, and she didn't want to hurt Jill – in fact, she was fairly sure she couldn't.

"So who are you, what do you want and why didn't you just break into my house or something?" Jill asked, watching her closely still.

"Can I sit down, please?"

It was risky to show such impudence, but she thought she could probably get away with it.

"End of the bed… slowly."

She sat down lightly on the same side as Jill, showing her that she had nothing concealed. She impishly considered showing a little skin under the nightgown, but decided it would probably only annoy Jill at this point. Besides, there was time for that later. She grinned inwardly - she couldn't help but feel happy. It pleased her to annoy Jill slightly, just as she knew it pleased Jill to be annoyed and flustered at her. She didn't know how she knew this... it just seemed right. It all did.

"Well, first of all, I didn't think you'd leave important documents at home. I figured you must have some safe room or stash somewhere. I didn't expect you to take me right to it, though."

Jill sat back with a tired look. She was still keeping her eyes on her, though.

"Stop messing me about. Who are you and what do you want?"

She turned and lifted a knee onto the bed, careful not to reveal herself. If she was careful not to be too flirty, Jill would have no ammunition to chastise her, though she was longing to do so, she could feel.

"I guess you wouldn't believe it, if I said I got what I came for" she smiled, looking with genuine and deep affection at Jill. As expected though, Jill took it rather badly…

"You think this is _funny_, you bitch? What kind of game is this to you? You trick me; you use me and all to…"

"_You used me too, Jill_!" she interrupted hotly. "You wouldn't have brought me somewhere so secure if you didn't suspect something. You didn't need to make love to me…"

"It was just _sex_. I don't know what you thought..."

"Don't give me that! You knew this wasn't just some random pick-up. You knew I might be armed, that I might try to kill you at any moment, with or without a weapon. You let it go on because you _wanted_ to. You felt safe - _it wasn't just sex, Jill_!"

Jill's mouth dropped open and she looked momentarily bewildered. Then her look of angry determination returned. She reached with her free hand into a drawer and took out a pair of handcuffs. She threw them over.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing" she repeated. "But I want your name, your purpose - your _real_ purpose - and I want you to cuff yourself to that bed post."

She looked down at the cuffs, then back at Jill. How should she play this? She picked up the cuffs, examined them and threw them back on the bed.

"No."

Jill frowned in surprise. She made a threatening gesture and made to voice it, but she decided it was time to force a confrontation. 'Don't do anything stupid, baby' she thought to herself.

"_Enough_, Jill, enough okay, before one of us gets hurt!" she shouted.

Jill seemed forced back against the headboard in surprise this time.

"I'm not putting them on, and you're not going to shoot me. So… _no you're not_!" she exclaimed angrily as Jill moved to object. "You're not going to shoot and you're not going to call the police."

"And… why is this again?" Jill asked with what she would swear was exasperated amusement – that was a good sign.

"Because we both know that they won't do anything to someone like me. Someone will show up and I'll be out before the morning, regardless of what you say. We aren't people to whom those kinds of rules apply, Jill. You know that."

Jill's head dropped slightly at this; she seemed lost in thought over something. It was time to drop the bombshell.

"My name's Ada Wong." (Jill snapped up, wide awake again). "I see you've heard of me" she added sadly.

Jill reached over for the telephone, and started keying in buttons. Not good.

"I really enjoyed tonight" she blurted out. It was funny how in a tight situation, only the truth ever seemed to really work. 'I really did and that's the truth.'

Jill stopped and looked over at her with a truly confused and angry expression: "Why are you… what the hell are you playing at?"

Truth…

"I was sent to look for information on your old STARS partner Chris Redfield. Since he's vanished and its believed you are still in contact with him, I was to find anything new and give it to my employer…"

_Sort_ of true anyway…

"So essentially…" Jill had laid the phone down as she spoke, "You came here to seduce me…"

"At which I succeeded" Ada pointed out, unable to stop herself from trying to tease Jill.

"…to get me to take you to my 'safe house' as you put it…" she continued stubbornly.

"Which makes it two for Ada Wong" she interrupted again, fighting to suppress a grin of wild joy.

"…And all this just to look for information about _Chris_?"

"That's not quite right, but still not far off being three for three. That's not really what I wanted..."

Jill snorted in disgust. It was more like disgusted amusement though, Ada thought in satisfaction. And it looked awfully sweet, whatever it was. She wished she had a camera…

"Don't tell me. This where the lonely assassin connects with the poor, tortured ex-STAR. One look in her eyes and she was a new woman. Am I right?" Jill asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ada smiled, and was pleased to see Jill return it before she could control herself.

"Got it in one."

She stood up, and Jill started in surprise, sitting up and letting the covers fall away. Ada looked away in respect, as Jill scrambled to cover herself again. She couldn't help smiling. This _had_ become really rather sweet. She really should have brought a camera.

"Where… where are you going? Sit down!"

"No, I have to leave now."

She walked over, heart pounding in her ears, to the table where she'd thrown her clothes off and started to get dressed, as Jill just sat in stunned silence behind her. Looking back as she slipped on her dress, she could see she wasn't even looking at her anymore. She was sitting, head drooping, gun loosely hanging in her hand. As Ada watched, she sat back and looked over at her. She looked utterly confused.

'Why did you have to do it this way?' Jill asked in a strained voice. 'Why do something like this to me…'

Ada paced quickly over, ignoring the weak attempt to threaten her, and knelt down next to her. She reached out a hand. Jill tried to swat it away, but Ada pushed insistently until she reached Jill's cheek, where she stroked it tenderly.

"I had a wonderful time this evening, Jill. I want to be with you and I had to be sure you wanted it too. I know you have no reason to believe me, but it's the truth, and I think you know it."

Jill didn't say anything. But she did rub her cheek gently against Ada's hand.

"I don't understand… And what can you possibly gain by it? If Wesker thinks…"

Ada shook her head and grabbed Jill more firmly: "This has absolutely nothing to do with him, _nothing!_ I don't work for him anymore. This is about you and me, okay?"

Jill looked skeptical, and tried to look away, lost in misery. Ada refused to let her break eye contact with her.

"Look at me, Jill. I know what it's like, this life. I need someone to share it with. I want you - that's what all this is about. We don't have the luxury of big courtships – I know it feels right with you, and that's good enough for me. I feel warm inside around you, part of this world again. If you think I'm going to let you slip away after that, you're very wrong!"

Jill pulled back, and slid away.

"Oh... come on! Why am I even _listening_ to this? We just agreed what a ridiculous cliché it is, and anyway you said yourself not two minutes ago, that you came here for stuff on Chris…"

Ada followed her, moving on her knees across the bed, sitting down next to her. Jill looked at her with such a lost look.

"Don't… please don't do something like this to me. Just find some other way. I don't have anything on Chris, and I couldn't give it to you even if I had. I swear I don't have anything."

"I don't care" Ada whispered, stroking her hand along Jill's arm.

"Yes you do!" sobbed Jill defiantly. "That's what you wanted and I'm telling you I don't have it! So please, _please_ don't do this to me…"

Her voice tailed off, but Ada continued to stroke her arm tenderly and lovingly, taking her hand gently.

"I already told you, I got what I wanted... well, part of it anyway. I just need her to agree to see me again…"

She stroked Jill's hair and leaned in to kiss her. She tried to move, but Ada caught her on the forehead.

"He… He's my friend, Ada. I don't know why you'd think I could tell you. I can't just let you and Wesker kill him. If that the kind of person you think I am... I won't…"

"Shh, no-one's asking you to, you silly girl!" she soothed, taking Jill's hands. Slowly she worked the gun free and tossed it aside. Then she rubbed some warmth into Jill's fingers.

"I know you don't understand, but even if I found out, I would never give anyone that information anyway. Not now."

Jill looked up questioningly, wiping her face with her hand. She seemed angry with herself for showing all this emotion. Ada wasn't far from tears herself, but she was fighting mightily against them. She wanted to break down, but she had control of the situation and she needed to keep it.

"Why not?"

"Because he's your friend, Jill. And I could never do something that would hurt you... you know it's true, don't you?"

Jill tried to sit up straight, wiping her tears away again. She waved Ada away, but she stubbornly circled round her, embracing her from behind.

"But… but that's ridiculous! We only just met! As if…"

Ada peered round to look at Jill, mere inches separating their faces. She stared deeply into her eyes, and smoothed her hands over and along Jill's arms.

"Would you do something to hurt me?" she asked softly.

Jill opened her mouth and Ada could feel her pull back from a kiss she had plainly thought of giving. She was straining to resist doing so herself. You could hear the rain thundering against the window, the hum of the radiator, their soft breathing…

"Well, would you?" she asked, lifting her face up when she tried to look away. "Answer me please, would you do something you knew would hurt me?"

A fresh tear rolled down Jill's cheek. She shook her head in incredulous horror and fascination.

"Say it Jill, say it for me, please."

"No… no, I wouldn't hurt you."

She looked as if she couldn't believe it, but Ada had never doubted it. She'd known all this time, known it inside. From that first time months ago, all the watching and waiting… 'You were always the one, Jill' she thought to herself.

"Then you _know_ I could never give that information to anyone."

"But then, why do you need it?"

"Ask me next time. I'll tell you then."

She leaned around and kissed Jill deeply, pushing her passion and all her pain into her lover. 'It's all for you', she screamed silently. 'Everything I am is for you now'. Jill had relaxed totally in her arms, beaten and bewildered into submission. She allowed Ada to wrap about her, to love her and adore her.

And then she was standing, having forced herself to jolt upwards and away, before she could never move from that spot again. She tottered unsteadily, and was caught by Jill who had raced after her.

"What's wrong?"

Ada laughed with such wild, relieved joy to see Jill's concern and collapsed into a hug around her neck, leaning her forehead against Jill's.

"Nothing. But I have to go… oh, I know, I don't want to, but…" (Jill had protested loudly). "I already left my number on the stand, see? I wasn't just going to leave you."

She kissed her on the forehead, then sadly, she forced herself up again and made to leave.

"This makes no sense to me, Ada. The only way I can make sense of it, is if you're playing me and this is some sort of trick" Jill called after her.

Ada stopped in the doorway: "If it was anyone else, they'd be right. But you know you're wrong, don't you?"

Looking back, she saw that Jill was lying back against the headboard, staring at the card she'd left. She nodded without looking up, a look of bewilderment still on her face. She wanted so much to stay, but knew she had to leave for now. She couldn't leave without being sure her girl knew how she felt though.

"I really wasn't going to give that information to anyone. It's just… complicated. I needed the original so I could make…"

"Its okay" stated Jill matter-of-factly, again without looking up. "You can tell me next time, right?"

Ada felt a fresh urge to race into her arms and never leave them.

"I promise!"

She made to leave, but not before adding over her shoulder: 'I'm... I probably don't deserve you Jill… but this is right, I just know it is.'


	2. Chapter 2

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Two.**

"Okay, this is as far as you go, Miss."

Jill blinked, taking in her surroundings. She stared around in confusion, taking in the cab like she had never seen anything like it before. She noticed that the cabbie was frowning with concern at her – he probably thought she was high or drunk (and to be fair, she had had more than a few earlier in the evening…)

"Miss? You have to get out now. This is as far as I can take you, remember?"

She'd been drifting again, lost in the evening's bizarre events. She felt cold, missing the warmth of her room, her bed, her Ada…

Snorting bitterly to herself, she shook her head trying to clear it of the headache that had set in. Nodding absently mindedly at the cabbie, she moved to open the door.

"Are you sure you're alright, Miss? I don't feel right leaving you out here at this hour; this isn't a safe neighborhood. You got a phone; maybe you could call someone to come get you? I could hang around until they get here…"

She looked back with some surprise. Genuine concern from a stranger; how many times did you see that in a day? She thought of the number in her pocket… 'Call me', she'd said.

"No, there's no-one. But thank you anyway; I only live a few blocks from here."

He smiled with a bracing 'chin up' look on his face, as she pulled herself out of the cab.

"Well, okay then. But you watch yourself; the people round here go plain crazy at this hour some times. Sorry I can't take you the whole way, but… it's the regs you know? They'd have my job if they knew I was letting people off easy with the fare and…"

Jill closed the door politely but firmly, leaning against the cab. She forced a smile, eager for him to go now, so she could think. He kind of reminded her of Carlos in a way. Kind people were so unusual to find; she just wasn't sure how to act around them anymore…

"Please don't worry about it. I can handle myself… I'm a survivor."

The taxi pulled off, and Jill looked about. A busted street light overhead flickered on and off at intervals. The buildings around were all in darkness, the only sounds were the buzzing of the light and the slow dripping of the raindrops. At least it had actually stopped raining now. She collapsed down to sit on a low wall outside one of the houses, ignoring the wet stone. She'd endured worse… much worse.

What a… _strange_ night, she thought to herself. And given that this was her life she was talking about, that was really saying something. She pulled out the card with Ada's number on it. It was unnecessary as she'd already memorized it, like she was terrified someone was going to come and take it away from her.

"What the hell are you playing at?" she mused quietly, although she wasn't entirely sure whether she was addressing Ada or herself.

It was like a dream, the kind of 'love at first sight' nonsense you read about in those… those novels with the… the names; ah, she couldn't remember. Those romance ones, anyway. She smoothed her fingers over the card, turning it over and over. A dream in a world of nightmares… you probably could write a book about it. 'I hope it has a happy ending', she laughed to herself.

Her left hand had been absently stroking her right arm. She looked down at it, clad in her leather jacket. Ada's touch returned to her, gentle and slow. 'You felt safe', she'd said. And it had been true, Jill couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so peaceful. Ada had been so… familiar, someone she could finally be herself with. She rocked slowly, thinking of it.

Ada had been so confrontational one moment and consoling the next; the sex had been the same. Expressing that hurt, making the other see and feel the lonely pain… to discover that someone really understood and cared, when you hadn't thought it possible. When you felt you were the only person on earth who truly _knew_, and everyone else was just… there.

That's how it had all started, she reflected, looking up at the silent monorail in the distance. Her car was in the shop… again. She kicked the ground angrily at how trivial life could be. So she'd had to take the train to work today. She hated the train, so many people shouting and screaming. And the more people you had, the more likely it was to happen. Someone would move in a certain way, say something a certain way… and you were right back there again.

Her hands were clenching tighter at the memory. She was gripping Ada's card like a talisman, as if wishing could bring her here. Her left hand was digging into her jeans at the knee. The lights had been flashing past the window, as the train thundered through the city carrying her home. She'd been trying to concentrate on nothing… not the lights, the city, the darkness, the people, and certainly not the vacant, soulless being staring at back at her out of the glass…

"_They're coming… they're coming!"_

Mikhail… she always heard his voice on the trains. Everywhere you went; there was always something that set it off, someone whose face or voice you just couldn't get rid of. She gripped the card even tighter.

"Ma'am? Is everything okay, Ma'am?"

She looked up in a daze. Light blazed in her eyes; the flickering pale light of the streetlamp mixing now with a swirling blue. A man and a woman - patrol cops from their uniforms - were peering down at her. She hadn't even heard them arrive; she'd been busy with her girl. Why couldn't they just leave them alone?

"Ma'am? Are you okay? Did someone do something? Are you hurt? Jackie, will you turn that damn siren off, please?!"

Jill looked over, as the woman jogged back to the patrol car, leaned in and switched it off. As she walked back, Jill could tell she wasn't happy to be here either. She probably thought Jill was a crackhead or a hooker or something. People couldn't hide their feelings from her anymore really: she'd seen so many faces, free of all deceit and malice. She knew the face of honesty, the face of savagery. And she knew the face of a betrayer… Ada had both.

"You need to move along, Ma'am. There's no loitering here, and some of the gangs have been at it round here tonight. You should go home."

She wore a face of concern, but Jill knew she didn't give a damn. Jill smiled inwardly – she'd kill to only have a face like that. To only be someone who didn't care anymore because of what they'd seen. But she was so far beyond that… the face in her mirror would turn lady cop here into a nervous wreck. She noted that they had walked a bit away from her.

"What's your problem, Jacks? I'm trying to help this girl."

"Help yourself _to_ her, more like. What am I supposed to do; wait outside as you bang her in the back seat?"

"Will you give it a rest? It's called 'Protecting and Serving' Jacks, you remember that at all? What if she gets attacked out here, you think the local residents are going to come to her rescue? I just want to make sure she's safe, that's all!"

'Protect and Serve'… a cop's duty. Jill remembered her last time in a police station. She'd put a bullet through the eye of a cop that looked just like this guy. He'd been a good guy too: friendly and devoted to his job, a family man. And he'd stripped the flesh clean from one of the female desk clerks, before trying to tear out Jill's throat with his teeth. She couldn't even remember his name, and she'd seen him every day for years. She couldn't remember most of their names now. You had to block these things out… so they said anyway.

"_Somebody help! This man's been attacked. Please, somebody!_"

The train had pulled into one of the stops, and everyone had heard the calls. A man was calling for help, bent over the body of a young man on the platform. Jill had followed someone's pointing finger to see a group of shadows (gang members most likely) fleeing in the distance.

"_Somebody help me! He's bleeding to death, for God's sake! Will one of you help?!_"

'Protect and Serve', once a cop, always a cop… Jill had leapt out onto the platform and ran over… but then it had happened again. A body laid out on the floor, blood running slowly away, a figure hunched over it… tearing the shirt off… a wet, crunching sound. He was turning… he was…

She'd ran, the screams echoing in her ears. She'd felt it all again: the terror that never truly went away, that _need _to get away, to be safe. That's why the gun stayed in the safe room now. Because if anyone got in her way during those moments… it was all about survival.

She'd found a bar… any bar, and started drinking. Something to dull the pain, calm the nerves. And then… she had been there. She didn't even remember her sitting down, just that before she knew it, she wasn't alone anymore. They'd talked and laughed… Jill smiled to think of it, rubbing her fingers slowly and lovingly over the card. And she'd known all the right things to say. That the world was… something other people had. That you could feel so lonely and apart from everyone, because nobody knew the things you knew.

It had been too perfect; hearing everything she wanted to hear had made her suspicious. But Ada was right… so right. She'd wanted to believe in her, being in her arms had felt so good and the release had been… She'd seen the real her, and she hadn't been revolted or disgusted. She'd held her and kissed her in the darkness. She'd given her a new pain to hold onto, to put with her own. It made it easier to bear; made it seem it was worth carrying on.

She heard the slamming of a car door. The woman, Jackie, had got back in the patrol car. The guy looked about, spoke something into his radio and ran to get in also. He looked over at her… the bullet had gone cleanly through, and he hadn't even flinched at it. The shots to the torso had been the ones…

"Watch out for yourself Ma'am! Don't stay here, it's not safe!" he called, getting into the car.

They drove away, probably going to tackle some gang thing or something like that. She got to her feet, shivering with the cold now. The light flickered on off, on off, overhead. Light, dark, light, dark.

"Don't worry about me, Officer" she thought to herself. "But you should listen to your partner. She knows the score. Just let them rip each other to pieces. You can't save anyone when it comes down to it. Them or you, it's not even a choice."

She sobbed with anger and held her hands up to her face. The card fluttered to the ground and flipped over and away on the floor in the breeze. Crying out, she dropped to her knees and frantically chased it, flattening it on the ground and scraping it up into her hand. Manically, she wiped it clean, before collapsing back into a sitting position against the wall, crying freely.

Putting the card away carefully, she made to stand up, but couldn't find the energy. In the distance she could hear shouts, shots; the calls of instinct and fury. Light, dark, light, dark. Why had life done this to them? Why did it have to be like this? Why did they have to know?

"I don't care if it's a trick, Ada" she sobbed aloud. "I need you with me: I don't want to do this alone anymore."

Seized with a sudden fury, she leapt up and grabbed anything that came to hand, rocks, stones, bits of trash. Again and again she threw, until with a loud smash and burst of electricity, the lamp shattered overhead. Then she was running at full speed, running home as if her life depended on it, wishing all the time that her girl would catch her and take her away from all this.

Ada watched her go, clutching at her face in agony. She screamed again, and slammed her fists against the steering wheel in miserable frustration, before breaking down into a sobbing fit. She couldn't bear it; her girl needed her and she was doing nothing to help her.

"But I will, baby" she whispered. "You've got me now. I'll always look after you."

She snatched up her mobile phone and checked the credit and charge again. She had to be ready.

"Call me" she pleaded aloud.

Reaching into her glove box, she retrieved the photo again. Wiping her eyes, she smiled with joy to see the faces. She saw a girl she hadn't known in years, a young happy girl with no knowledge of the horrors waiting out there. The young Ada Wong, surrounded by her family.

"It won't be long now. My baby's going to help me save you all. You'll like her; she's such a wonderful person. I feel so sad around her… but I can _feel_ again. I've never been as happy as I am right now."

She kissed the photo gently.

"We'll save you. My Jill and me, we're stronger than anything Umbrella can throw at us. Little Ada's finally in love, mommy."

She cupped her hand over her face, and broke down crying, holding the photo to her heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Three.**

'It's okay, it's okay; just calm down Jill', she thought to herself.' You're home now; you're safe'… wasn't she? She listened carefully, straining for the faintest sound… nothing. Everything was quiet in the street, which considering it was gone half four by now easily, wasn't all that surprising.

She lent her head against the wall, happy to be back. Even though her life had spun completely off the rails in recent years, at least she still had this place. A nice bungalow in a relatively quiet area… It was amazing the things you could put up with, if you had a home to come back to. A bolt hole, somewhere to hide…

She pushed herself up from against the wall, and swung about to face the door, her blurred, distorted reflection appearing in the frosted pane. She preferred frosted glass; it meant your reflection couldn't get at you, because no-one knew you better. She looked at it in defiance as she fiddled with the keys in the lock.

She knew what it was thinking. Its expression would be a 'You wish she was waiting for you, don't you? You wish this was her home as well.' Ridiculous - they'd only met what, a few hours ago? And yet it seemed like a lifetime… She couldn't deny it; she actually did wish that Ada would come home, come home to her. Ridiculous...

_She turned over again, and blinked as a moonbeam fell across her. No, not a moonbeam – it was already too late for that. It was a lamp down the street, its light bouncing and reflecting off objects in the room. She thought of getting up to close the curtains properly. She turned over instead, and cuddled the mobile phone on the pillow close to her cheek, afraid to leave it even for a second. She curled up into a ball on top of the covers, trying to wrap around it._

"_Call me, baby. I want to come home, Jill."_

Home… Jill sank against the door, breathing a huge sigh of relief. She was so tired and confused; she just needed to sleep. She rubbed her eyes wearily, bent double against the door. She'd call in sick today; it was far too late now to get enough sleep to be ready for work. Besides, she needed time to think. She…

"Oh God!!"

With a miaow, her cat sprang away, hissing in surprise. Jill made a mock threatening gesture at it, laughing with relief. Only Jeanie… She got down on her knees and cooed to the frightened creature, trying to coax it back. It backed away suspiciously, before eventually approaching and pawing at her cautiously.

"Yes, it's me. Mommy's home, your mommy who left you with no food… aww, I'm sorry! You forgive Mommy though, don't you? You still love her? Yeah… let's get you something to eat, baby…"

She sat down at the table, stroking Jeanie; watching her happily eating away. For a long time, she'd been against the whole idea of pets. Just seeing animals reminded her sometimes… the simplicity, that lack of high thought, the ease with which they ripped and tore with their teeth and their claws… But then she'd become more scared of being alone, of the things she thought when she was alone… so she'd bought Jeanie.

They were both a bit jumpy at times, both found the other tolerable company at best, but they had done their best to love each other. Jill couldn't believe she was actually feeling guilty about this. But then Jeanie looked up from her food, with such a look in her eyes. Refusing to finish her food, though she must have been starving, she jumped off the table and pelted away. It was like she _knew_; knew that she was no longer the thing that Jill loved the most, that she had a rival now.

"I'm sorry, Jeanie," Jill mused to herself. "I found a new cat… such a wonderful cat."

_She dropped her fork with a clatter. It was ringing! In her haste, she knocked the plate and it fell off the table, smashing into pieces on the floor. She barely noticed…_

"_Hello! I'm so happy you… oh. No… I… I said no, alright! I'm not interested – I don't care how much you're paying! I don't do this work anymore. Since now! Find someone else… JUST GET OFF MY PHONE!!"_

_She hung up frantically, and slammed the phone down angrily, throwing herself back in her chair and throwing all the cutlery from the table. She rocked backwards and forwards, checking the phone for damage. Hurriedly, she blocked all the numbers on the list… all but one, the only one she wanted to hear from._

"_I didn't accept, Jill. I'm not who you think I am" she pleaded to the phone. "I don't want them, I never did. I only want you… why won't you call me? Don't leave me alone…"_

Deciding she had better make sure the cat didn't get up to any mischief, and conscious of the need for sleep, Jill paced slowly through the house. Casting about for Jeanie, she suddenly became aware that something was wrong. She hadn't left the place like this, she was sure… Nipping back, she checked the kitchen. Someone had definitely been using things - everything was in the wrong place. How had she missed this? Maybe… no, well _probably_ not anyway.

Hardly daring to hope, Jill nevertheless resolved to be prepared. She selected a large butcher's knife, and crept back into the living room. She listened carefully… noth… no wait… snoring! She moved quietly along the hall to the bedroom, and put her ear to the door. Someone was in there! She readied her knife, but already it felt different in her hand…

In the darkness, it appeared more tooled, more crafted for the business of killing. It was her STAR knife again… She stiffened as in her mind a fanged maw seemed to burst from the darkness, the flash of the blade… the wet ripping of flesh, blood pouring on the floor and across her torso, the gurgling cries of the creature. And later… later…

"NO!!"

She threw the knife away, and it clattered away down the hall. She fell to the floor, breathing heavily and punching the floor in anger. It had been them or her… she'd had no choice. No choice…

And then she was in someone's arms, embraced and enfolded by Ad…

"Marie?!" she exclaimed, jumping up and away from the young woman.

Marie looked sleepy, but surprised. She was wearing one of Jill's gowns, loosely tied together in the middle. Her blonde hair was messed up and suggested she had been asleep for some time… in her bed. She was staring with some concern at Jill, and also at the knife on the floor.

"Jill, are you alright? Where have you _been_?"

Jill heart rate slowed, trying to grasp the situation. Finally, evading Marie's attempt to embrace her again, she approached reality once more. She scooped up the knife, and without another word, retreated to the bathroom.

"Jill, what are you doing? What's that knife for?! _JILL_?!"

Ignoring her cries, Jill tossed the knife aside, and ran the taps in the sink, splashing water onto her face. Okay Jill, life stuff; just deal with it and get past it. This is no problem; this is the _easy_ kind of domestic terror…

"What are you doing here, Marie?"

Almost walking straight through Marie, Jill strode with authority into the corridor. Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed her firmly by the arm and dragged her protesting figure to the bedroom door. Marie actually smiled at this, and tried to touch Jill's face. Jill recoiled:

"What have I told you, Marie?! You can't keep doing this, coming here every time you and Charlotte have a fight. How did you even get in?"

Marie lent into the room and produced the spare key Jill had given her that time.

"Ah, the famous key that you insist you mailed back to me, but got lost in the post, eh? Nice of them to send it back to you, wasn't it?"

She reached for it. Marie tried to move it away, but Jill savagery grabbed her wrist and twisted it free. Marie cried with obviously feigned pain at this.

"But Jill, you don't understand. Chaz is…"

Jill held up a hand: "I don't want to hear it. Get dressed now; I'll call Charlotte and tell her to come get you."

Marie tried to move forward again, but was repulsed by Jill.

"I don't want to. She's such a cow. I want to be with you again…"

Jill was already moving off to the kitchen: "We were never together, Marie. Not that you told me that…"

Jill took up the phone, and started stabbing in buttons, irritably. This was the last time; the pair of them were just… what? Looking down, she realized she had almost finished dialing Ada's number. She took out the card and confirmed it. Why…?

Realization dawned on her… she lowered the phone and looked at the card in wonder, stroking the edges. She'd been phoning to apologise… like she was afraid Ada would arrive and catch her with another girl in her bed…

"It's not what it looks like, baby" she whispered, unable to stop smiling.

Marie had simply been a mistake; one of the girls on the perfume counter at work. Marie hadn't mentioned that she was still seeing Charlotte (another girl from work) when she came on to Jill. Now it was like a soap opera she couldn't escape from… modern life at its least fulfilling. Wracked but also vaguely amused by her guilt over this odd situation, she called Charlotte, clutching the card in her hand.

_The water fell over her shoulders, warm and soothing. At least Ada imagined it must be. She couldn't feel anything. Her eyes were fixed to the phone lying on the stool nearby, trying to force it to ring with will alone. _

'_Please, I have to know we're both in this. I can't cage you or trap you. That's what they do. They warp everyone's lives; make them play their little games. I want you to want me, the same way I need you. Call me, please…'_

_All around, the apartment was silent, save for the running water and the occasional sound of a desolated, lonely soul, her heart breaking for the thousandth time. The room did not care: the blank face of the television, the shining polished furniture, the gleaming kitchen utensils… all stood unmoved. They waited patiently for the living to make use of them. They had no use for the lonely soul; she was not for them._

_They ignored her pitiful cries…_

"She's here" Jill called to the living room.

"_And it was a good night for the Brits in general, with James Farraday winning Best actor for…"_

Receiving no reply from anyone living, she walked in to find Marie still glued to the television, watching the Oscar results.

"Oh, I _hoped _he'd win! He was so great in that film!"

Jill looked at the screen and sighed. Hollywood… the ultimate fantasy dream town they said. She couldn't help but laugh – they had absolutely no idea. The things she had seen… the T-Virus project seemed to warp people's minds. They constructed their own little fantasy kingdoms to retreat from the world… Hollywood was pathetic by comparison.

"Come on, she's here" she repeated.

A knock at the door confirmed this. She moved off to get it, whilst Marie continued to watch:

"_And we can exclusively reveal that Mr Galverston was accompanied to the ceremony by his new partner, Miss Marion Eliza Fontaine, the glamorous head of Nuralis Cosmetics…"_

Marie shouted and clapped at this news: "Oh, oh, we sell her products at the perfume counter, Jill! Oh but they make up this stuff about her being with people. I heard she was married... oh, Chaz is going to be killing herself she's missing this!"

Jill opened the door to be greeted with Charlotte's scowling face. The senior attendant at Caltrain and King, she was considered to be an extremely desireable woman by employees of both genders. Jill had rarely gotten a chance to fairly evaluate this however - Charlotte strictly wore 'the face of the beast' when dealing with her, it seemed.

"Good morning, Char-"

"Where's my 'Ria, Valentine?" she snapped, swishing her long hair back in anger.

Before Jill could respond, Charlotte's face transformed into a look of joy, as Marie came rocketing past Jill into her arms, deluging her with talk of celebrities and awards. Jill stood uncomfortably, wondering if she could get away with closing the door yet. At least they seemed reconciled anyway…

"So in future, could you two do me a favour and leave me out of your little fights? I'm fed up of being dragged into the dream world you two live in. Marie can't just…"

SMACK!!

Charlotte had slapped her hard across the face, and Jill was so dazed she just stood there dumbly.

"Why can't you leave other people's girlfriends alone, you _slag_!" she spat, before escorting Marie away, kissing her on the head, and appearing generally heedless of Marie's part in all this.

Jill closed the door quietly, still stunned. _This_ was what she had fought so hard to get back to, _this_ was the life she had clung onto so fiercely. She looked up at the ceiling, speaking to whoever might be listening out there:

"You do like your little jokes, don't you?"

Outside, she could hear Charlotte's voice: "Why here, baby?! You know I don't like you hanging around that Valentine bitch. Creepy whore gives me the chills…"

She slammed the keys down on the sideboard in tired anger. Yeah, a real funny joke this one…

"_No. Everything's fine. It must have been another room, they heard. I've been asleep, but I was up watching the TV just before. No, that's fine. Thank you, I quite understand. Good Night. Oh yes, Good Morning in fact!"_

_The manager turned and left. Ada closed the door. She stepped over the broken chair, and kicked aside the pile of magazines and assorted knick knacks. Picking up the shredded curtains, she tossed them off the bed. She sat down cross legged on the bed with the phone in front of her._

_She hadn't been lying. She did feel fine now. She felt better now. Jill would ring soon. She was sure of it. She lay down next to the phone again, and smoothed her hand over it. It was getting light outside. She might go out later… after Jill rang._

Jill threw the spare pillow and sheets onto the sofa. She felt a bit silly, but she couldn't shake the feeling that sleeping in her room today would be wrong… like she would be cheating on Ada or something. 'We're not even going out, we met last night for a few hours, and I'm not going out with Marie either… makes no sense', Jill thought happily to herself, with a warm feeling inside.

About to fall over, she noticed her answer machine was blinking. Sighing, she lent over and tapped it, before sinking onto the sofa:

_BEEP!_

_Good Afternoon, Miss Valentine. This is Brian Burgess from work. I'm calling to request that you come see me first thing tomorrow morning…_(Jill groaned loudly, her face in the pillow), _because it has come to my attention that you have called in sick 5 times in the last 3 weeks._(Jill's groan had become a weary scream).

_I must insist we meet to discuss this matter. Your conduct on this has been regrettable, but I feel you are a valuable employee, and are much loved by everyone here at Caltrain and King. _(You're not kidding, thought Jill. I'm not doing bad, dating your female employees…)

She bashed her head into the pillow, as if afraid Ada could read thoughts over long distances now. That had been then; she had had no respect for herself at that time. It's different now Adi, she thought to herself. I swear this isn't what it looks like… And now she had to go in today, with no sleep… she buried her head in the pillow again.

_BEEP!_

_Good Afternoon, Miss Valentine. This is Cindy Baltus over at Starlock Securities. Further to your application: I'm afraid we simply cannot offer a position to you at this time. _(A fresh groan from Jill)._ You should have mentioned the note of censure you have in your record from Umbrella Incorporated. _(Jill's bitter laughter echoed through the room)._ Starlock owe a great deal of our business to Umbrella Inc, so we simply cannot hire someone on their black list. _

_I'm awfully sorry, Jill. If you still want that drink, I'm free on Friday though._

"Not even if the world was ending, and we were the only two women left" thought Jill. Now she was tired, guilty _and_ angry. Could this get any better?

___BEEP!_

_"__Er… hello Jill."_

Jill jolted up and fell over the back of the sofa in surprise, landing on her back.That was Ada's voice. She leapt up and made for the phone, before remembering this was the answer machine… ?

_"__Ah… this is so awkward. Um, we haven't actually met yet. I'm looking over at you from the booths now. You're drinking at the counter. I'm about to go over and say hi…"_

Jill shook her head. She couldn't believe this!

_"__So, if this is making any sense to you, I guess we did hit it off. I knew we would, I've known for months, you see. You're probably angry that I snuck out, but I wanted to tell you that I meant everything I said to you. Er, or will say, I guess! I feel closer to you than I have to anyone, and I hope by the time you hear this, you'll feel it too."_

Ada… you are the strangest, most remarkable… Jill just stood, mouth open, listening.

_"__No matter what happened or what was said, I just want you to know that I love you Jill. I watched you for months before I made my move. I saw you smashing the bins in frustration in the alley outside work, I saw you crying and alone on the train – I even offered you a hankerchief one time, do you remember?_"

Jill's mouth fell open even further. That had been her?!

_"__Well, I'm running out of money, so I'd better go. I just wanted to give you my number again, in case you threw it away because you were angry or something."_

Jill took the card out of her pocket and looked down at it in fresh wonder, as Ada read it out.

_"__Okay, I'm definitely going now. Please call me. Look at me, I'm so nervous - I'm shaking all over…"_

___BEEP! There are no more messages._

Jill was crouching low to the phone, delighted at the fear and love in Ada's voice. She was shaking herself, but with wild joy. She picked up the phone and dialed…

___She couldn't move. Early sunlight streamed into the room through the window, making her whole body seem to glow. She could feel the tears running slowly over her hands, where she was holding them to her mouth to contain the sobs of relief and happiness._

___The phone rang in front of her, Jill's number displayed on the screen. She grabbed it and pressed receive, and the room seemed to sing in welcome, wondering who this lively new creature in its midst could possibly be?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Four.**

There was rain in the air. A few spots had blown against Jill's cheek, causing her to leave her blissed out state. Wakened from her daydream, she looked about with miserable recollection at the squalor of the alley. One of the grandest department stores in the city, truly beautiful inside, and it still had something like this round the side… no surprise that she considered it such an old friend now. Beauty and ugliness… the Umbrella specialty. She smiled sadly at this thought – no matter how hard she had tried, she had still been living by their rules…

In the street outside, cars blared past, as crowds of people shuffled hither and thither. Mothers with prams, businessmen on their mobiles, gangs of kids dodging school… life. And as always, she was just a few steps away, but millions of miles from their lives. The lack of sleep made it seem even more grotesque than usual, so loud and noisy, so full of trivial concern.

She'd tried; she really had tried to fit back into all this. After all, even this simple scene could hardly speak more loudly of the need to forget, to move on. After the events in Raccoon City, you might have supposed the world would wake up to what Umbrella (amongst others) had done. But the world these people lived in, that they wanted to see, had no time for such monstrous fantasies.

This had been made perfectly clear when the government had leveled Raccoon City. People didn't want to know about it, to deal with anything like that. So instead of killing the cancer, they killed the patient and as a people, moved on as if nothing had ever happened. And as much as she had wanted Umbrella to pay for what they had done, she had just wanted to forget, to be part of the world again. But they knew - they always did. She was 'other', she was different. The slap from Charlotte was no different from the missile strike – they just didn't want _her kind_.

But now, being so different and separate didn't seem so bad. After all the pain and the misery that Umbrella had brought into her life, they'd finally given her something good… Ada. The woman she was now, the woman that Ada was now: they'd never have met without the company. Without the diabolical scheming and insane fantasizing of lunatics like Sir Spencer, Wesker, the Ashfords etc, they would have been different people. So many people had died, so much of her had been broken inside… but it was still a fair trade, she thought with defiant happiness.

"You hear that, you bastards?" she thought aloud to herself. "After all you tried to do to me, you gave her to me - and I'm not giving her back!"

Tossing aside her cigarette, she pushed up and straightened her uniform. As she did so, she became aware she was being watched – Charlotte was standing, arms folded with a look of utter hatred at the mouth of the alley.

"Break's over, Valentine. Back inside, now!" she snarled.

Without a word, Jill took one last look around, and pushed past her into the street. Jogging lightly to distance herself from the hateful harpy behind her, she climbed the steps and swung open one of the huge front doors to the store.

The store blazed with light and sound, so vast and alive. Jill always felt so small in here, like she could go into the aisles and just lose herself from the crowd. Perhaps it wasn't helpful in the great scheme of things, to immerse herself in such a place, but it was easier than dealing with the outside world. Overhead, the crystal chandeliers gleamed in welcome, reflecting like stars.

The powerful scents from the perfume counters assaulted her as they always did, so vivid but slightly unreal… more stuff of illusion. Marie looked up from where she was serving an older woman and waved cheerily at her. Jill nodded awkwardly, and hurried into the main store. She caught a glimpse of Charlotte following her in a mirrored surface on one of the nearby pillars, and turned to cut her off.

"Don't start Charlotte, not again! Just leave it alone, okay?"

It was rare to meet people who were so naturally and openly hostile. Jill often supposed that it was only her inherent dismissal of Charlotte's authority that had kept her from dealing 'Chaz' an accidental, (but not entirely unwelcome) fatal injury. The hatred and irritation she felt right back at Charlotte, could easily cause her to mistake the woman for one of Umbrella's monstrosities…

Charlotte had positioned herself to block Jill's line of sight to Marie. Jill sighed with frustration. She was far too tired for this nonsense…

"You've got some nerve, Valentine! You crawl into work looking like the walking dead, but then I guess we should be grateful you showed up at all, should we?"

Jill turned and walked off along one of the aisles, not even bothering to put up the pretence of interest. Undeterred, Charlotte pursued her, whispering invectives:

"How did you do it then, hmm? _Answer me!_ How did you do it?!"

She'd caught Jill by the arm. Jill yanked it free and gave her a threatening look, which forced her back a step or two. Charlotte's look of angry, righteous rage remained however.

"How did I do what? Look, we didn't do anything, okay? It's your own fault - she comes round because you're always screaming at her and…"

Charlotte whitened with pure fury and looked as though she might try to strike Jill. At that moment however, some customers passed by the aisle, and she shrank back. 'Lucky you, Charlotte' thought Jill. 'That would _not_ have been a wise move…'

Checking the people had moved on, Charlotte snapped back around, hair flying from her face, banshee-like in her wild fever. Jill clenched her fists, trying to calm herself. 'It's only Charlotte, don't do anything.'

"That's not what I meant, you…"

Apparently unable to find a suitable word she could voice where people might hear, she contented herself with a look of deepest loathing.

"How are you even still employed here? Stays up all night screwing other people's girls, and gives it to the boss in the morning to keep her job… you're so dis…AHH!!"

It took Jill a moment to realize what had happened. She'd just sent the neurological command from her brain to her hands, ordering them to grab Charlotte and break her miserable neck, when she'd toppled forwards to the floor…

"Ada!" she exclaimed in surprise.

And there she was, looking radiant in a white dress, looking like she had just stopped off in the real world, not really part of all this at all. Her mousey black hair seeming to crackle with electric anger, she was looking down with venom at Charlotte's blustering figure, and Jill couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. What was she going to do…?

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_! I… _oh dear_!"

She had opened a bottle of perfume she had been carrying and tipped it deliberately over Charlotte, causing the latter to howl in appalled outrage. Jill breathed a sigh of relief – her girl was mad, but not dangerous… today.

"Adi… maybe you should…"

But Ada had bent down to help Charlotte up. She gripped her round the waist and dug the nails of her other hand hard into one of Charlotte's, causing her victim to call out feebly in pain.

"There. No harm done, right? _Right?_" she hissed at the terrified attendant.

Charlotte looked pleadingly from Ada to Jill, trying to free her hand and pull away. Jill gave her a 'yeah, I'm really going to help _you_ out' look, although she did feel a little guilty. Finally, Charlotte nodded with beaten anger and fear, and Ada released her. Gently smoothing Charlotte's clothes and patting off dust, she was all smiles again. Jill was aware she was probably buying into all those goddess worship clichés you saw in cheap novels and movies, but still… her girl had been something else!

She moved over to her side, to watch as Charlotte scurried away, bumping into customers and staff without apology. Ada slid up to her, leaning into her as they watched. Suddenly, she didn't feel quite so tired… She turned to Ada, inclining her head with a look of mock admonition. Ada flashed a sheepish grin, and shrugged.

"Well, even security guards need protection, sometimes. And anyway, nobody speaks to my girl like that! She was obviously lying anyway... Your boss... isn't a girl, right?"

Jill grinned at her girl's cheek and seized with a joyous energy, lifted her up into the air, swinging her around into the aisle, dancing round in a slow circle, before ending in a long and passionate embrace. The store became a ballroom, the sound of the customers fading into the happy laughter of dancers. Her black shirt and trousers seemed transformed into a tailored suit, and Ada's dress seemed to flow like a gown, silky and enveloping…

"But what are you _doing_ here?" she managed at last, running her hand across Ada's cheek. "We're supposed to be meeting up this evening, aren't we?"

Ada nodded, nuzzling her hand: "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come see you. Lucky I did too. Who did that woman think she was, anyway?"

Jill smiled, standing back as some people passed, before taking her girl's hands again: "She's kind of my boss. Luckily, my _actual_ boss is a pretty decent guy... and how cheap do you think I am, anyway?" she finished laughing, cuffing Ada at her feigned look of jealousy.

She ringed her arms around Ada's waist: "I know what Charlotte means in a way though. Sometimes I forget that not _all_ people are bastards that want to take advantage of you. I'm glad you're here though, and she did have it coming - you were amazing!"

They stood a moment in quiet adoration, before Jill turned away quickly, stifling a yawn, at which they both collapsed into hysterics.

"Well that's _just_ what a girl likes to see from her partner" laughed Ada. "Utter boredom at her company!"

Jill shook her head apologetically in amused embarrassment: "I'm sorry; I haven't slept since we…" She pulled Ada to her, moving to follow Ada's face as she looked away in affected outrage, soon finding the smile she was after.

"This evening is going to be something, isn't it?" Ada mused, kissing Jill's hand. "We're both so tired, we can barely stand!"

Jill thought a moment, then with a quick movement, swept Ada up, cradling her in her arms.

"Miss Wong, you are speaking to a woman who went for days with no sleep and little food. You have no idea of the sheer stamina I possess. I think a demonstration will be in order tonight!" she declared in a matter-of-fact voice.

She focused on her girl's face as she said this, conscious that she was actually evoking the old demons. But all she could see was her Ada, feel her soft, comforting weight in her arms. She just wanted to hold her here forever…

"What's wrong?" she asked with sudden concern. Ada's eyes had filled with tears and she was struggling and twisting to be put down, in which Jill reluctantly obliged her.

Ada paced away, pulling away from Jill's tender and enquiring caresses. She looked deeply troubled suddenly, and was wringing her hands and wiping at her face. Jill felt magnetically attracted to her, wanting nothing less than to wrap around her and protect her.

"Adi? What's the matter?" she asked, unsure how much distance she should or even could keep.

Ada looked up at her, and reached out a hand, which Jill grasped in both of hers. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever felt this kind of fear, if she ever had.

"Jill… I… I want to come to your house this evening. To be with you… more than anything I mean."

She looked petrified; her hand was gripping Jill's so tightly, but she kept shying away when Jill tried to get close to her.

"Tell me what's wrong, baby. You're scaring me," pleaded Jill.

Ada flew to her at this, kissing her over her face. Jill was so stunned she staggered backwards and collapsed sitting onto a footstool for support. Ada stood over her, looking down with such love and misery, stroking her hair.

"I… didn't come straight here today" she managed, breaking away and backing up a few steps. She was looking away in shame. Jill felt a cold twisting inside.

"I went to your house… I went after you left for work this morning. I was going…"

"You were to going to break in and look for the stuff on Chris" finished Jill heavily, sinking her elbows onto her knees. Why… what was she supposed to think about this?

"Why are you telling me this, Adi? Why…"

Ada had sunk to her knees and reached out for Jill, but pulled away in shame: "I'm so sorry!" she sobbed. "I was just scared that I was hurting you! I wanted to show you…"

Jill looked up in confusion.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way" explained Ada, somewhat hysterically. "I wanted to have the information by now, so you'd know I wasn't hanging around you for it – so you'd know it's _you_ that I want, not the stupid files!"

Jill thought she was getting it now. It was mixed up thinking, but her girl had actually been doing this for her. She felt her love for Ada flooding through her - she felt like she could take off at any minute.

"I just kept thinking how hurt and confused you looked… because of me. I wanted it out of the way. I didn't want you thinking you had to keep an eye on me, in case I was playing you, in case I went sneaking around looking for information all the time..." Ada continued in a voice that suggested she was scared, but relieved to get it all off her chest.

Jill shook her head and reached out a hand to run along Ada's cheek. Her girl was... well this was a relationship which was plainly going to drive her crazy. But that was okay; it was a wonderful feeling.

"So to stop me thinking that, you went sneaking around looking for information?" laughed Jill with incredulous relief. "I've never known anyone like you, Adi."

She lifted Ada's face up, and stroked her face lovingly: "Did you get what you needed? It's okay, you know; I trust you."

Ada closed her eyes in pained relief, holding Jill's hand to her cheek.

"No" she whispered in a devastated and awe-stricken voice. "No, I couldn't do it… I just couldn't do it."

Jill's mouth fell open in surprise, lost for words. Seeing Ada looking so distraught was killing her – but that she could sort out right now. She bent down and gathered her up, lifting her carefully to sit in her lap. She put her arms round her, and nuzzled her hair. Neither of them cared remotely at this point if anyone saw them.

"You didn't go in, baby?" she finally managed, fresh wonder in her voice.

"I couldn't" sniffed Ada miserably. "I screwed myself up, told myself I was doing it for us, that I wasn't even going to give the information out anyway… and I wasn't, I promise" she added looking up, tears flowing freely.

"Shh, I know, I know" soothed Jill rocking her gently. "So why didn't you? I'd have understood."

"I couldn't get over the threshold. I picked the lock, but I just couldn't make myself go in. I kept thinking how disappointed you'd be. I couldn't stop feeling so _disgusted_ with myself for breaking into your house…"

Ada's voice was cracking badly now, and she was clutching tightly to Jill. It was quite uncomfortable, but Jill wasn't the least concerned with her own pain.

"It's been my life, Jill. Lies and deceit, that's what I had to do all day, every day. False name, false life, everything false. I had to stop caring, to be able to do that."

She looked up at Jill: "But I can't do that with you – it hurts too much. I felt kind of the same around Leon. Do you know him?"

Jill thought a moment: "Leon… Kennedy? Claire mentioned him, I think. Why, what's he got to do with anything?"

Jill was aware she had sounded rather jealous there. The knowledge that she wasn't the first to make Ada feel guilty over her various misdeeds was unwelcome news, however. Ada seemed to understand, and leaned up to kiss her.

"It wasn't like that, not like us. He was just a good man, a good person. It didn't feel right what I had to do, lying to him. It made it hard. But with you it's… I mean I still did deceive Leon, but it hurt. With you, I can't do it at all… because I love you" she finished simply, as if she was in utter awe of the words.

Jill hugged her and mused: "Well I didn't think it was because you thought _I'm_ a really good person!" She soothed Ada, who seemed to think she had hurt Jill's feelings: "Shh! I don't have any illusions about that. I don't consider myself a particularly good person… too much has happened. We're just damaged goods, you and me!" she finished with a cheerful squeeze.

Ada nodded in agreement. Neither was exactly happy with that truism, but it made them feel so very close to each other. Ada took a few minutes to pluck up the courage to finish her story:

"So anyway, I just froze there on the doorstep. Eventually, I gave up; I took a key on the sideboard just inside the door, locked it up again and came here. I was just so guilty… I don't deserve you, but..." (She looked up in earnest) "I'm sorry; please don't... I won't do it again" she finished, burying her head in Jill's chest, clutching at her.

Jill knew right then that she'd never tire of her girl's strange way of thinking: "Heyy, why would I leave you, especially over _this_? I told you I trust you and I meant it; I know you were only doing it for us – even if I do find it hard to follow your reasoning at times!" (She kissed Ada affectionately to show it was a compliment). "Anyway, I can't leave you – we aren't even seeing each other yet, really! We've skipped quite enough stages as it is, don't you think?"

Ada shuffled and resettled in her lap, appearing to calm down considerably at this: "Well… it just means we're better at this than other people. We didn't need all that time – we just knew. I mean… it doesn't mean we love each other less, right?

Jill had barely confirmed this, when sounds of approaching customers roused the two.

"Come on, you!" she told Ada, "Time for me to get back to work, and time for you to go home and get some rest for tonight! Of course it's still on!"

Saying this, she stood the protesting Ada up, pulled her into an embrace and kissed her quickly on the forehead and lips. Then, smiling with delight at her girl's look of bewildered happiness, she motioned for her to get going. Ada was still pawing at her uncertainly but was starting to move, mouthing silent words of bliss and relief.

Jill adopted a stern look and pointed firmly at the end of the aisle, a grin clawing at the edges of her mouth. She took Ada by the arm and escorted her politely. Her girl seemed to be in much better spirits now.

"Well, okay. But if I see that woman hassling you again, I'll… JILL LOOK OUT!!"

Jill saw a blur of movement and felt that familiar jolt as adrenalin kicked in. A gun, a figure flailing at her, mouth open, Ada… have to save Ada…

"What's going on here?! What happened?!"

People started to crowd round, squeezing in to get a good look. The man lay on the floor, coughing and spitting out vomit. A woman - presumably his wife - was helping him with his inhaler, sqwarking in panic, and thanking her. Jill took her hand off the man's back, where she had pushed him to the ground. She ran her other hand over her face… she was shaking.

Looking up, she saw Ada who was also trembling visibly, looking at her in terror and reaching out her hand. She took it and pulled herself up, collecting the gun off the floor as she did so.

"Okay, back up everyone. Show's over; give these people some privacy now. Nothing to see – the gentleman just took a bit of fall, that's all."

Without waiting to see if they dispersed, she allowed Ada to lead her away. They stopped a few aisles over and hugged each other with relief.

"Jill… I thought… I thought…."

"It's okay - I thought it was, too."

They clung to each other, unable to think of anything but how scared they had been, and how relieved they were that the other was alright. Gradually the scene returned to Jill, piece by piece.

Coming around the corner, he'd started to choke and flailed out his arms. Ada had reached into her purse at her side and pulled out a gun. Jill had seen what she had thought was one of _them_, a gun, Ada in danger. Grabbing the gun, she'd forced Ada behind her, and thankfully by that time, she'd realized it wasn't one of them after all.

"I would have… I would have shot him…" mumbled Ada.

"It's okay" Jill stated softly. "Nothing happened. But this is why I never wear a gun anymore, Adi" she soothed, stroking her girl's hair. Calming her girl down was making her feel much better too. Ada was trying to do the same, but she seemed much more upset about something.

"You don't understand Jill. I never get like this, _ever_. I learned to switch off, so I wouldn't… I never mistook…not once. But when I thought you might be attacked - I would have shot him dead right there."

She was smoothing her hands over Jill's shoulders and arms, as if seeing for the first time that her lover had a real body that could be hurt and killed. She looked horrified, like she wanted to lock both of them away for safekeeping right away.

"But nothing did happen, okay? You just cared…hey!" She lifted Ada's face up. "And I've very, very grateful."

Ada nodded and hung around her neck, squeezing so hard, Jill thought she might merge with her.

"That man should count himself lucky, anyway. If it'd just been me, he'd be dead now, most likely. If I hadn't been thinking of protecting you, I probably would have snapped his neck or something. So you actually saved his life when you think about it…"

When they eventually calmed down, they realized they had to say goodbye for now. Jill was needed to report on the incident, and couldn't risk any further slacking on the job. So with reluctance, Jill saw her off, wishing she could go with her.

Watching her go, she turned the events of the last day or so over in her mind. She thought of how strange it all was, but how right it seemed. She thought of the horrors, of the world she swore she'd never go back to. Ada was from that world; being with her would probably put the lid on her failed reintegration into society…

She thought of the terror she had felt when she thought Ada was in danger… of the misery she had felt when she had been parted that first time. Watching Ada leave now, she felt ice cold, like she couldn't breathe. The lamp that blinked on and off overhead, the people who went to sleep in Raccoon city not knowing what awful fate would strike before the morning and of the missiles that had ended even that last fantasy…

"WAIT!! ADA!! ADI, WAIT THERE!!"

Ada turned with a look of surprise, half out the front door. Jill raced through the store, ducking customers and leaping over stacks of goods. She broke through the perfumed haze at the front, grinning at Marie who was whooping and clapping. Practically colliding into Ada, the two of them stumbled, giggling out on the steps outside. The wind was blowing and a light rain was coming down.

"What's the matter? What are you so happy about?" Ada called over the wind, a sympathetic smile spread over her face.

"I don't want you to leave!" Jill explained breathlessly.

"But… you have to work. I'm coming by later. I can't wait either, but…" Ada looked confused but delighted.

"No… I mean I don't want to leave… _ever_. I want to come over tonight and _stay_, stay for good I mean!"

Ada's mouth dropped open in surprise – happy surprise, Jill hoped.

"Do you want to?" she asked, heart in her mouth. It really made no sense, but…

Ada looked momentarily stunned but soon recovered: "Well…yes, of course I do! I never made any secret about that, did I? And here's you charging out here like it was all your idea! But what changed your mind? I thought you were still confused by all this?"

She'd moved to hold Jill round the waist. Both of them were so energized, Jill wondered if her hair was standing on end…

"Well, our situation _is_ a bit odd isn't it?" Jill retorted. "I think I'm doing rather well under the circumstances! I don't think it's a trick, and I do think it's the right thing for both of us. What more can I say? If I believe any of it, I might as well believe all of it - and I _want_ to believe it."

Ada lunged at her and they swung about, embracing and kissing deeply: "I seem to recall saying that, and having someone mock me" laughed Ada joyfully. "I hope an apology is in here somewhere!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Five.**

'Okay, this is it then', thought Ada, taking deep breaths, trying without success to calm her nerves. Yet again she looked into the rear view mirror, adjusting her hair slightly and cleaning away imaginary blemishes on her cheek. The shoulder straps on her dress weren't right – she _knew_ she should have just kept the white one. She didn't even really _like_ this red dress, what had she been thinking? She could change quickly in the back seat though, she pondered. After all, all her stuff was in the boot, so…

"No, you're being stupid", she told herself firmly. 'We're not going to be going anywhere; we're spending our first proper night together'. Hopefully, they'd have other things to be attending to. Trembling uncontrollably, she ran her hands over her face and through her hair – before spending another few minutes, checking herself in the mirror with panic again. She needed to calm down; just relax and start by getting out of the car. Calm down; get out of the car…

Taking another deep breath, she threw open the door and stepped out into the street. She was about to close the door, when she saw her mobile phone lying on the passenger seat. She'd turned it off after the text had come in, but…

'Leave it here!' screamed a voice in her head, almost drowning out the voice that was shouting 'Take it with you!' Almost…

She looked around the street, towards Jill's house. She wished her girl had come out to meet her. This would be so much easier then – she'd have just rushed into her arms and that would have been that.

As she stood torn with indecision, she became aware of a low whispering nearby and could tell that she was being watched. Alert and tensed for action, she swung about putting the car behind her. Some distance up the road, she could see two figures standing in the doorway to their house: an old couple - husband and wife, presumably. They were looking in her direction and from the tone of the whispers, they weren't happy.

Ada looked down at her dress and across at Jill's house. She shook her head in relief: just a couple of busybodies - nothing to worry about. This feeling soon gave way to indignation over their attitude however. Nevertheless, she felt a certain joy over this – she really did care what they were saying about her and Jill. It was the first time she'd really been bothered about 'real life' in years… Determined not to be cowed by these self important old fools, she stared pointedly at them until they retreated into their house.

'That's right; get lost, you bigoted old so and sos' she snarled to herself. 'Leave us 'freaks' to our sinful little ways.' People were so pathetic sometimes… She wasn't sure it was such a good thing for her first proper thoughts of ordinary people and life in years, to be ones of contempt and anger, but she was so happy just to care at all, that she brushed this aside.

Eager to be with Jill as quickly as possible now, regardless of what the 'neighborhood watch' thought of it, Ada insolently slammed the door of her car as loudly as she could. Taking one last look at the mobile and at the house across the street, she turned her back on both, and hurried to the gate. A squeaky, rusty old thing, the gate still seemed like the entrance to some forgotten palace - she had to restrain herself from skipping down the path to the side of the house.

Approaching the door that had defeated her earlier, she once again came face to face with herself in the glass pane. Her distorted reflection peered curiously at her from the frosted glass. Having it all blurred in front of her like that, made her think again about how she felt about all this. It was still frightening she decided, but it was exciting too this time. It really felt like coming home now. The bungalow could hardly be described as grand, but it would do her. It had been so, so long since she'd had a place to call home, where she felt welcome and wanted. She thought of the phone again…

With a jerk that surprised even her, she brought her hand up and knocked loudly on the door. 'It's over' she told herself. 'You did all you could; it isn't your fault'. She told herself this over and over, forcing herself to breathe regularly. Hands behind her back, in front of her wringing them, touching at her arms and smoothing her dress… '_Come on!' _she pleaded mentally.

No answer. Peering through the glass, the house appeared dark and empty, although when she strained she thought she could hear that cat… Jeanie or Genie she thought she remembered Jill saying. Anyway, she thought she could hear it miaowing somewhere inside.

Maybe Jill had fallen asleep - they both hadn't slept for near enough a whole day now after all. She knocked again, louder this time… and again, louder still, impatience and even a little fear growing inside her now. After about half a minute, she realized no-one was coming. Panic was setting in… 'What am I going to do? Think, think! she scolded herself.

Maybe she should… oh… _no! _With a sinking sensation, Ada leaned back against the fence behind her. She should of course phone Jill to see what was wrong, but she'd left it in the car… intending to leave it there all weekend, perhaps forever. She'd seriously considered getting a new one, to make a clean break. She sighed angrily - if something had come up, Jill would have been trying to phone her, but she'd left it off. She slammed her palm into the brickwork of the house in frustration, resisting the urge to scream and shout…

'_Just phone her_' reasoned the inner voice. '_Don't let such a little detail worry you – you know you love her, and you know she loves you – focus on that_'.

Swiftly, she returned to the car and retrieved the phone, biting back the strong urge she had to continue across the street (she could swear she had seen the curtains swish). Taking a deep breath as she walked back to the door, she switched the phone on. Several missed calls… mostly from Jill (she batted the phone lightly against her head). And the others… didn't matter, she snarled, deleting them without looking at them.

The text message flicked onto the screen. She barely noticed keying the button, but perhaps because that other little voice had been at work; perhaps she'd felt the need to read it again:

_Last chance. Information on Redfield by midnight. Do __**not**__ test me._

She looked towards the door, but her reflection offered no assistance. The phone would be crushed at this rate; she was holding it so tightly. She looked down at the plant pot where she had put the spare key earlier.

_Last chance…_No.

"NO!" she shouted aloud to the phone, "_I won't do it!"_

She dialed the number like her life depended on it.

"Pick up baby, pick up, please… _please_, come on, pick up, pick up…_"._

"Adi, is that you? Than…"

"_Where are you?!_" Ada practically screamed into the phone, falling against the wall and wiping away tears of joy and relief.

"Are you okay? Nothing's happened has it? I'm so sorry; I tried to call you earlier. I'm just going to be a little late is all. Are you there yet?"

Ada nodded furiously, though Jill couldn't see it of course. She could hear sounds of traffic in the background over the phone. It sounded like Jill was at the train station.

"Yes; yes and I'm fine. I was just worried; I'm just outside now actually… When are you getting here? Oh Jill, I _knew_ something like this would happen. _Why_ didn't you let me come get you?" she ranted happily – the news that Jill was on her way felt like a lungful of air to one who was drowning.

Jill chuckled on the end of the phone with affection: "Calm down, young madam. We agreed that it would be nice to meet at home – our home, right?"

Ada nodded again, feeling like she would cry with happiness.

Jill continued: "I'll be about 20-25 minutes tops, but don't wait around outside! Go on in, you know where the key is."

Ada stood up from the wall at this, like she'd been caught somewhere she shouldn't be.

"Oh… Jill, I don't know. Can't I just wait for you to get here? I wanted you to be here."

"Taxi… Arrggh! What was that? Oh… Adi, it's _our_ house: yours and mine. I don't like it that you don't feel welcome there. I know it isn't exactly the classiest place that…"

"That's got nothing to do with it!" interrupted Ada crossly.

Jill breathed a contented, yet frustrated sigh: "Adi, please; you need to get over this. I don't want my girl hanging around outside like some uninvited guest. You have to believe that you belong there. You know I want you there."

Ada had turned to face the door, shaking again. It was her house, she belonged here. 'Believe it, _believe it_', she told herself. 'It's what you've wanted, what you've searched for, for so long: a home with a person you truly, truly love. You just have to believe it…'

"Adi, are you okay? Look, you can do this, I know you can. I can stay on the phone with you, if you'd like. Do you need me to, baby? "

Jill sounded deeply concerned, which emboldened her. She knelt down and picked up the key - her key.

"I'm fine… I, I just want you here with me, Jill. But… I'm okay to do this; I _can_ do this. You don't need to stay on the phone. I love you, so hurry up."

"There's my girl. I love you too, see you soon."

Ada pressed the phone to her cheek and looked at the key. Her reflection seemed puzzled as always, but hopeful as well, she thought to herself.

"This is my house" she told the phone and all its occupants. "I belong here."

Moments later, she was in, and it was… strange. Any hope she had had of feeling triumphal victory or some kind of 'completion', was shaken as she stood in the kitchen of her new house, feeling very small and fragile.

It wasn't that the house seemed oppressive or threatening as such; instead, it was giving off such an ambiguous sensation to her. The darkened kitchen was full of deep patches of gloom; of darkness that warned her not to approach. But at the same time, its surfaces were so bright and glowed in silent, blissful welcome in the moonlight shining through the window.

It was like the house didn't know what to make of her yet; like it was squinting hard to try and make her out. Ada was aware that she was holding her own breath and after a further few nervous seconds, exhaled softly. Outside the wind had picked up, open in its furious hostility, but in here, everything was so still and quiet. Was this a kind of face-off or was it a stunned greeting to something long searched for? She didn't know, and neither did the house it seemed.

A soft thump caught her attention, and something moved in the darkness. A sleek, grey furred cat padded into view. Ada was struck by how beautiful this sentinel was. The cat noticed her and trotted forwards happily. Ada bent to her knees, holding out her hands.

"You must be Jeanie; I'm Ada" she purred at the newcomer.

Jeanie pulled up short and adopted a defensive posture, as if seeing her for the first time. Her claws drawn, she hissed loudly and then bolted away to Ada's dismay. Without thinking, she leapt up and pursued the retreating feline.

"Oh no! Don't run away! I… I'm not dangerous! I live here too now – I'm… I'm a new mommy for you!"

She felt extremely foolish, talking like this to a cat, seeking its approval, but this seemed to _matter_ so much. All of this mattered, she realized, so much more than it ever had before. She needed the acceptance of people, animals and places that Jill valued. She wanted to fit in… not again as such, because she never really had fitted in the first time. But she wanted a place in it now.

She moved through to the next room – a living room judging by the TV and sofas – trying to track the errant cat now. It hissed somewhere nearby. A further attempt to introduce herself was met with more hostility and a narrowly evaded claw to the wrist. Ada made a desperate lunge, but Jeanie slipped through her fingers and escaped again, leaving her flat on the floor, humiliated and angry.

"You're going to have get used to me, little lady!" she shouted into the darkness as she struggled up, cat hair now covering her dress. "This… this is my house too now – I belong he…"

Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of something on the coffee table. Moving closer, she clicked on a lamp to get a better look. It was… A low moan of sorrow and despair escaped her lips, and she shrank away from it into one of the chairs. She just sat, hands pressed together, then over her face, trying to will it away. But it wouldn't go… it just sat on the table, mocking her.

"Why?" she moaned softly. "Why have you done this to me, baby?"

She looked down at her phone, and clicked it on.

_Last chance._

"Hello! Adi; are you here? There you are, you see? You got in alright; I knew you could do it! I'm so sorry – I wanted to be here too, but… what's wrong…"

Jill's voice trailed off as she spotted the file that she was holding. Out of the corner of her eye, Ada saw her cross over to the small table by the door and drop her keys onto it with a tired sigh.

"Not going to ask me if I've read it or taken my little spy pictures?" Ada asked, wincing as she tried to fight back the bitter accusation in her voice.

Jill didn't move or respond to this attack. Despite her anger, Ada wanted to look at her, overjoyed that she was at least here at last. But she couldn't face her yet; she had to get her emotions under control, stay strong. It had never been a problem in the past...

"So I guess this means you knew..." she continued, as calmly as she could.

Jill turned to face her at this: "Knew… what? What do you mean?" she asked with seemingly genuine curiosity.

"That I was going to come here today, looking for this!" Ada replied testily.

"Hey... what?! No, that's not it at all!" Jill protested, moving forward and gripping the end of the other sofa. She was plainly trying to get Ada to look at her. Stubbornly, she refused.

"And you even laid it out here for me, all nice and neat" she continued with a bitter smile. "Was that so I'd find it quickly and get out of here faster?"

"Adi... just, please stop this. This isn't how it was - will you at least _look_ at me?!" Jill asked sharply, her voice also rising slightly now.

"Oh hey, don't worry; I'm not complaining!" Ada interrupted hotly, ignoring her request. "I mean what could I expect, right? I'm the Girl who cried Wolf, I'm Spy-Girl; what right did I have to think you'd believe... believe that I want to be you."

She choked on the last words, but sprang up defensively as she sensed Jill moving to round the sofa. Seeing this, Jill stopped at the rest and held up her palms to show she wasn't going to try anything. Ada could now see the worry and hurt in her girl's face however. She felt her resolve slipping, but steeled herself quickly.

"Baby, please listen to me, you've got this all wrong. Just let me..." Jill pleaded, but Ada interrupted again, insolently refusing to listen to anything she had to say.

"Just tell me one thing - why didn't you say anything earlier on today?" she demanded fiercely, trying desperately to convince herself she was the innocent party here. "I said I was sorry for coming here behind your back, but I... I passed, didn't I? I passed your little test, so why didn't you tell me?!" she cried.

Jill clapped her hands to her thighs in exasperation: "Baby, there was no test, okay?! I was just reading..."

"It was right here waiting for me!" shouted Ada, cupping a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob and backing up with a warning glare as Jill tried to approach again.

"Miaow! Can I get a word in edgeways, here?" Jill shot back with concerned irritation. "As I was saying, I was reading it after we spoke on the phone this morning, okay? And I made up my mind then to give it to you when you arrived, this evening – _that's_ why it's out! I believe you won't use to harm Chris. And I also know you must have your reasons for wanting it. You seemed to need it so badly, and I couldn't deny you. I can't deny you anything…"

A thrill ran through Ada's body. Jill... had been going to just hand it over to her? She was willing to do that for her... Suddenly she felt all the more wretched for what she had almost done this morning. Unconsciously, her eyes flicked to the phone lying on the table.

_This is your chance… your last chance._

"There's no conspiracy here, baby" Jill continued softly. "I had no idea you were going to come here earlier, I swear. I've given up trying to predict what you'll do – it's impossible and it's more exciting like this, anyway!" she concluded with great affection in her voice.

Ada felt giddy, like she might fall over at any moment. She'd been exposed well and truly as the only one at fault. But did that mean everyone, the neighbours, Jeanie... were they right – did she not belong here? She had to find... something... something she could attack.

"Well... well, alright, but that still doesn't explain why you just let me walk in here and find it" she babbled, barely even conscious of what she was saying now. "I mean, what were you trying to do – give me one last chance to change my mind or something?"

_Last chance. Do __**not **__test me!_

Jill was edging forward and she couldn't move, couldn't escape. She wanted her to hold her; she had no right to ask for her, but she wanted her so badly.

"I wouldn't do something like that to you and you know it" Jill reasoned, inching ever closer. "I just forgot all about the stupid file; I was so excited about tonight, all I could think about was seeing you. And Charlotte was keeping me late to punish me and I couldn't get a taxi... then you phoned – in a state I would point out. You know why I asked you to let yourself in and it has nothing to do with the file."

Ada dropped her head with exhaustion, aching to just let go and collapse into her girl's arms. Jill was so close, their new life was just inches away… But if she was offering the file freely, then maybe she could still…

_Last chance…_

Before she fully realised what she was doing, she was tearing at the file, trying to rip it and shred it to pieces. Jill leapt forward, but savagely she fought her off, scratching and spitting with fury as she attacked the file, finally casting it violently from her where it caught Jill in the chest, exploding into papers and photos across her.

Crying out with apologetic anguish, Ada staggered back and fell awkwardly down across the sofa, sobbing.

"Get it away from me! Please, I'm sorry, I can't! I won't do it!" she sobbed angrily at her phone which lay on the table. Grabbing a cushion, she was about to throw it at the phone, when she sensed Jill next to her and again, lashed out with fevered guilt, trying feebly to protect her girl from being with someone so tainted.

"Hey, hey, Shh! Ohhh, come on, shh!" Jill soothed as she settled around her, wrapping her arms round her and kissing her hair and neck softly. Ada struggled weakly, but she couldn't fight this, she wanted it more than anything in the world. More than anything… She felt herself slowly relaxing into Jill's arms, accepting it finally.

"Shh, you're alright, everything's alright" Jill continued, taking her hands in hers, and lacing their fingers together.

Ada leaned back curling up into Jill's embrace. For a while they simply lay there, cuddled together, until Ada finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for all this. It was just, realising that this was the end of all that, I just couldn't believe it. All that pain and now…"

She looked up and kissed her lover gently, feeling the last of her fear falling away. Jill smiled with loving encouragement and ran her hand slowly and tenderly through her hair.

"But it's over now – I just don't want you to ever think I don't appreciate you offering me that file" she said earnestly. "I… I did need it – people… but I just want to be _free_ of all that now. I just want you – that's the truth" she finished, pressing herself against Jill.

"I'm saying this because… I'd appreciate it if we didn't talk about… I don't want you to have to worry about the kind of person I was. I hate who I was as much as anyone. I mean, I know what people think of me - whoring for those companies and…"

"Hey! Stop that talk right now, madam!" hissed Jill, grabbing her firmly, putting her hands to her Ada's face and forcing her to look at her. "I'll respect your privacy; I'm just glad you're here with me now, but you're _not_ a whore; it's _them_ who are to blame. If you're going to shut it all away, then I at least need you to know that. You _never_ need to feel guilty or ashamed in anyone's presence… least of all _mine_."

Ada looked at her with shocked concern: "But… don't _you_ say things like that, either! At least you fought them! You're…"

Jill suddenly pulled away and sat down wearily on the sofa: "No, you… you don't know what I am, Adi. Not really… You, we think, we _know_ that we're alike, just 'right' for each other. But there are things about me too that… Look, I just don't want you feeling, I don't know, 'morally inferior' to me or anything. That's not what we should be about. I'm not some angelic 'righter of wrongs', okay? I saw a chance to get out and I took it."

Jill was speaking over her shoulder, like she was too ashamed and scared to face Ada with these revelations. Ada sat up and shuffled over to her side. She fought to leave some distance between them, respecting her lover's space and giving her time to unburden herself. She couldn't help stroking Jill's arm however, urging her to continue.

"I mean, just look at what I'm doing here" (she motioned to the file again). "I trust you Adi, but to give that information to someone I just met, someone who freely admits having worked for people who've tried to kill us…"

Jill's voice was low and pained, looking at the files as she spoke. But now she looked up at Ada and stroked her cheek gently: "I love Chris like a brother, Adi. I would _never_ wish any harm on him. But if taking the risk that giving out this information on him would be the only way to be with you… I realized that I'd do it, and that I'd be able to live with that. What kind of person does that make me?" she finished heavily, looking away again.

Ada was lost for words, touched deeply by the loyalty, but troubled at the pain and trouble she was causing her girl. Before she could think of some way to reassure her, Jill was going on:

"You think I'm a good person, _better_ than you somehow. But I'm not really… I was a policewoman, a STAR. I wanted to make people's lives safer. But then the mansion… I was so scared, Adi. I just wanted to get out. I couldn't…"

Ada shifted closer, stroking her arms and back insistently and supportively: "People you trusted had betrayed you. You had to be tough; you had to assume you were the only one you could rely on. You knew you had to survive. You did the right thing, baby."

Jill looked at her, pain in her eyes: "But that wasn't the worst of it, Adi. Things like that, I could just about handle. But when we got back, they _laughed_ at us. They told us that we were making it all up, or were just stressed, that kind of thing. People didn't want to know. They called us liars and… and worse. And I started to hate them for it…"

She was trembling badly now. Ada pulled her gently but insistently back down the sofa, before resting her head on her girl's shoulder. Sliding her arm behind Jill's back, she cuddled her gently, whispering lovingly to her stricken partner: "You were angry. You went through hell for them and they didn't believe you. They thought you were sick… I've been there. They just don't understand what it's like."

Jill shook her head violently: "No _you_ don't understand. I shut myself away, I quit the force. I was so angry, I… I _wanted_ it to happen to them. I actually wished for it to happen. And when it did, I thought 'Good! Good - now _you'll_ know what it's like!' I thought that… I actually thought that…"

Her voice had cracked, and Ada had to fight hard, just to keep Jill from hurting herself, she was shaking so hard. And yet Jill didn't cry – this was a sorrow that went beyond tears. It was a familiar pain to Ada – that sensation that the world was simply too painful to bear, that nothing would ever get better. That you were the most wretched and miserable creature alive… Ada knelt up, gathering her girl firmly against her, smothering her in love, trying to batter her with the sheer force of her affection.

"I was pleased it happened… They were getting what they deserved for being such cowards… I actually thought that…" Jill whimpered in a muffled voice through Ada's arms. "But then I saw those things again, and I stopped thinking about them as people at all. I was all alone again; I felt like I was being punished for wishing such a terrible thing on everyone. And all I could think was 'I have to get out of here!' Men, women, even children this time, I didn't even try to help anyone. I killed them, it didn't matter who. I was so scared… and I felt like I didn't even deserve to survive… but I had to."

Ada crushed her in her embrace, folding over her and rocking her in her arms. She pressed Jill to her so tight that she feared she might actually smother her. She took one final look at the phone and at the file. Her place was here, whether the house, the neighbors, the damned cat, whether anyone liked it or not. Her girl needed her...just as her family needed her. But hearing her girl and feeling her quivering miserably against her, she knew once and for all, she _had_ to choose Jill - she couldn't go on like this anymore. 'They were dead already', she told herself. 'It isn't your fault...'

"Shh, you did what you had to do! They were beyond help, and you were angry at them for what they said and did to you. No… no, you're a good person. It's the companies that did this. They put you in an impossible position. Hey…!"

She lifted Jill's face to hers: "I'm so proud of you for it. If you hadn't been so strong and so brave, you wouldn't be here now. And I'd be all alone."

Jill lay beaten and helpless as she cradled her softly, confessing all to her: "I just couldn't go on doing it after that. I tried to find Chris at first, but then I just gave up. When he finally contacted me, I told him I'd had enough. Raccoon city was it for me – the last escape. I felt so guilty for what I'd done, I just wanted to… you know, 'rejoin the real world', try and be one of them again, make up for everything. But they _know_ somehow, they don't want anything to do with me…"

Kissing the back of Jill's neck, Ada had made her decision; she let go of the final ties. Sitting back, she looked lifted Jill's face to look her straight in the eyes:

"Then I say it's their loss, Jill. When I look at you, I see something wonderful, and if they don't want it, then I most certainly do! You don't know how hard it was for me to approach you, to believe someone could actually want me, care about me..."

She stood up, and with a smooth motion, cast off her dress, to stand semi naked before her lover. She wasn't going to let anyone make her feel ashamed of the way she felt about her girl. She wanted to show Jill, that whatever else got in the way, whatever anyone said, she wanted her more than anything in the world. She held out her hand...

"I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself, and so should you. We've found each other now, and that's enough for me to want to be a part of whichever world will have us. And if neither does, we'll just find one that will!" she finished with defiant impudence.

Jill looked up in wonder at her, before taking her hand and caressing it softly. Ada's look of insolent defiance seemed to embolden her, as she then gripped her hand tightly and jerking up, seized Ada in a firm, confident kiss. Ada accepted this with joy, feeding off the loving, but also seething passion from her girl. Kissing at her cheek and neck, she allowed Jill time to properly respond to her challenge, before moving to arm's length.

Putting a finger to Jill's lips as she made to voice her frustration, she turned and pulled her girl along with her. Confused, but clearly enraptured now, Jill allowed Ada to lead her through the house until they reached the bedroom. Ada turned back to her and opened the door. This was no one night stand, no simple tumble in the hay. She was home: she wanted to lie with her girl in their bed. Jill nodded in understanding and gathered her up in her arms, carrying her over the threshold.

There was no longer any room in the universe for others now - they tore into each other with the joyful energy of two beings who cared purely and solely about the other. They forced each other to take their pain and accepted the others' like an old friend. With hot blooded ferocity, they demanded that their love be acknowledged, their anger, their cold detached loneliness, colliding together. Pressing their bodies together, it was as if they were trying to get under the skin to be even closer to each other. Kissing and caressing softly, seizing with savagery and directing each others movements across their bodies, they challenged and then comforted, assaulted then assuaged. They opened themselves completely up to the minutest scrutiny of the other, utterly unafraid and unashamed of their desire that destroyed all others.

The world around them seemed to burn, their passion now a fire to scour away all their doubts and sadness. The wind outside howled its objection to this union, beating with airy fists against the house, trying to get at the 'otherness' inside, to remove it from this world. The house itself seemed poised, trapped between acceptance of this fiery pair as its own, willing to shield them as they stitched over and repaired their torn and empty souls, or to reject their uncomfortable burning rage, so dangerous to the normality it represented.

They cared not, they were together, and that was enough. If the world did not approve, then so be it.

"Don't!" Ada yelled, jerking up sleepily.

Her head swimming slightly, her body protested her waking so soon, urging her to lie back down. Looking about sleepily, she saw it was still dark, though getting near dawn now. Still burning and shivering with passion, she lay down and cuddled up to Jill's peacefully slumbering form. She felt… whole. She felt safe and needed; somewhere she truly belonged. Not the house so much, just wherever her Jill was. She wanted to feel her girl around her again, didn't want to ever be apart from her…

A distant sound reached her ears: a scratching of some kind. The scraping brought her back to the awareness that the world consisted of things other than the two of them - an unpleasant reminder. She closed her eyes and tried not to think, but her dream was coming back to her now – her family staring at her, breaking slowly apart into crystalline shards… She looked at the clock… it was done by now… It was over…

"I'm sorry… But I had to end it; I just couldn't do it anymore, even for you. I had to get away, to be with my Jill. I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

Jill shifted and brushed against her. "Mmm? What… what is it? You're awake, baby? My girl's insatiable…" she grinned, although clearly still half asleep.

Ada smiled and was about to respond when the scraping started anew. Jill frowned and sighed: "Jeanie… I'll go."

Ada pushed her down gently, stroking her cheek. "No, you rest; I'll do it. Me and Jeanie have to learn to get on with each other sometime…" she soothed cheerfully.

Forcing themselves to part for a few minutes, and with both of them feeling desolated at this prospect, Ada hurried into the corridor, throwing on a gown.

"Here kitty kat. Here Jeanie. It's your other mommy. Don't spoil her night, Jeanie cat… I want us to be friends…" she called softly in a sing-song voice.

She caught sight of her phone, and after some hesitation, picked it up. Either way, she had to know. Missed calls… yes. Texts… ah. Let's see... Her breath caught in her mouth. She stared at the text dumbfounded… seeing only parts of it.

_Virus loose on estate… Mother responsible… Sister is alive… please help!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Six.**

With a shout, she pulled Ada's arm hard to the side, whilst lurching forward throwing all her body weight against her. With a muffled cry, Ada tumbled over backwards, falling out of sight at the end of the bed. In a flash, Jill had sprang up and over, landing in a crouch next to her as she lay momentarily dazed. Her eyes darted about, looking… there!

"Uhgghh"

She winced in pain as her head cracked sharply against the wall. Fighting through the pain, she could see Ada had stopped to check on her. This might be her only chance. She flung herself forward, almost passing out from the pain, and catching Ada by surprise again. Vision blurring, she forced her girl's arm down, bashing it hard against the floor until she let go of the needle.

A wave of dizziness came over her, and it was all she could do to grab the needle and keep it from Ada's flailing grasp. Thus thwarted, she felt her girl twist out of her grip, and run from the room. She struggled to her feet, shaking her head to clear it, and feeling to check she wasn't bleeding… she was fine – sort of. Forcing herself to beat the pain barrier, she stumbled into the corridor and gave chase.

"Adi! Where… where are you? What's going on?"

"Don't move."

For a second, she was back there again. It was the exact same look - that look of horrified determination, of the misery their betrayal was causing them. Blinking hard to dispel these thoughts, she looked over; clearly seeing Ada at last, standing behind the sofa, gun in hand.

Ada was shaking, like she might faint at any time. But Jill knew she would shoot, if she made any sudden moves. This wasn't quite the same as last time though – Ada was only pointing the gun at her legs, not her head.

"Okay. I'm… I'm not doing anything, baby. Just calm down, okay? I know you don't want to hurt me."

Ada nodded, leaning forward into the sofa like she wanted to spring over there and embrace her. Jill looked pleadingly at her girl; why was she doing this? She had an idea why, but why wouldn't she let her help?

"Just… don't leave like this. Please… don't I at least deserve to know why?"

Ada looked angry and hurt, half lowering the gun. It was an obvious bluff, but it looked like it had still hit the appropriate nerve. Ignore the pain... just keep her talking…

"I'm not leaving!! Is that what you think this is? We agreed, remember - this is my home too? Why would I leave – you know I want to be here, more than anything!"

Jill smiled with a mixture of relief and nerves. It was good to hear that, but there was still a gun pointing at her, after all.

"I left you a note. I'm only going to be gone for a few weeks. There's just something I need to take care of…"

Jill motioned at the chair, and Ada nodded.

"It's family isn't it? Or some close friend or something?" she asked, as she moved slowly over and sat down - Ada's look of surprise told her she was right.

"Yes, it's family, but how…"

"I've seen that look before. You're not the only one whose families they've threatened. But I can help – oh, I want to help, you silly girl!"

Ada shook her head, and held the gun up in warning. She gestured to the needle in Jill's hand.

"It's a sedative. I wanted to make sure you wouldn't be able to follow me. I want you to take the needle and inject yourself with it."

Jill started with incredulity, but Ada remained resolute.

"You can't… do you _honestly_ think I'm going to do that? Knowing you're in trouble?"

Jill couldn't help but marvel briefly that she just accepted all this at face value. There was no proof it was just a sedative, or that Ada was doing this for any reason other than making a getaway. But she knew her girl – it wasn't even a question. She trusted her completely, despite the bizarre situation they had again found themselves in.

Seeing that Ada was not responding, probably hoping she would come around and inject herself, she placed the needle on the arm rest. She crossed her arms and sat in defiance. It was a risky strategy – she knew Ada would shoot as a final resort…

"Stop… _pick that up_!" Ada shouted angrily. "I'm not messing around, baby! Please don't make me do this!"

"You're the one being unreasonable, Adi!" Jill shot back with genuine indignation. "If you're going to shoot, then do it. But can't you at least tell me what's going o…"

"ARGGHHOWWW!!"

With a sudden scream, Ada collapsed to the floor, at the same time as a loud squealing miaow sounded out. Before she even realized what she was doing, Jill had leapt round the sofa. Ada looked up at her, clutching her ankle where Jeanie had scratched her. They both saw the gun, but despite feeling a fresh wave of dizziness, Jill moved first.

Racing forward, she kicked the gun away. Ada tried to turn to follow it, but Jill grabbed her one handed, pulled her forward onto her stomach, and threw herself down onto her back, pinning her to the floor. As Jill reached out and caught hold of her arms, Ada struggled furiously, tears in her eyes.

"No… _let me go_! I have to do this! Let me go! _Please_… please… I can't let you… I don't…"

Jill felt her girl's resistance subsiding, and eventually Ada went limp: "Shh… stop it. Just give it up, baby. It's alright, no harm's been done."

A few minutes later, after satisfying herself that Ada's injury wasn't anything serious (Jeanie's claws had barely broken the skin), she sat Ada down at the kitchen table. Though it pained her to have to do it, she'd handcuffed her to one of the legs. Ada didn't resist: she was beaten for moment. 'But that could change at any time' Jill warned herself. Life with Ada was certainly anything but dull…

She paced over to the counter where she'd left the gun and needle. She picked them up and held them up for Ada to get a good look at. Ada hung her head in shame.

"You drive me _crazy_, Adi! Do you think this is how I wanted our weekend to start?! Honestly, it's like living with that guy from the Pink Panther films! Is that how it's going to be? I come home and you come at me with a syringe?!"

She was breaking into a laugh as she said this. Her girl drove her absolutely wild at times – and she'd only known her just over a day or so! She hadn't felt this alive in ages…

"I'm… I…"

Jill walked over to her, seeing that Ada was too distressed to notice her amusement. She stroked her hair, and kissed on the back of the head. Ada turned miserably to face her, looking every inch the scolded child.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked in a small voice.

"Never mind about that, baby. The Valentines are a tough clan. I know in that crazy head of yours, you thought you were doing what's best for us… Oh, what am I going to do with you, eh?" she smiled at her guilt stricken lover.

She sat down at the table, and resolved that she nevertheless needed to be firm whilst she was in control.

"Adi, I've accepted quite a lot to be with you. We certainly don't have an ordinary relationship… but it's probably stronger for all that. I've made my peace that there are certain things about you that I don't have a right to pry into, but…"

Ada grasped her arm with her free hand.

"Don't say that – of course you have the right. You have a right to know it all. I don't want to have secrets from you. I just needed some time. I…"

She dropped her head sadly, but Jill lifted up her chin.

"Then don't you think that time's upon us, then?" she chided tenderly. "I love you to pieces but… guns, drugs: secrets that cause this aren't good for us."

Ada nodded, rubbing her cheek against Jill's palm.

"I know you were doing this to protect me. It's got something to do with the companies hasn't it? It's that information on Chris that you wouldn't give them. They're threatening you and your family… and it involves the T Virus I suspect. Am I warm?"

Ada continued to rub against her: "Very warm" she whimpered sadly.

Holding back the tears, she pulled herself away and gestured to her purse in the living room. Jill walked over and retrieved it for her, checking it first for guns, needles, nerve gas etc. You could never be too careful when her Adi was trying to be helpful, she chuckled to herself.

Waiting patiently through this security check, Ada tried to look like it didn't bother her. Jill wasn't fooled though and soon handed it over, resuming her stroking of her girl's hair, which seemed to set her at ease again.

Fumbling in the purse, Ada brought out a wallet. She opened it and offered it to Jill. A photograph depicted four people clustered together. One was obviously a very young Ada; Jill smiled in delight. In her arms, young Ada was holding a baby, and was flanked by a man and woman – her parents Jill supposed.

"Your family?" she enquired gently.

Ada nodded, looking with pained affection at the photo. "That's me" she said, returning Jill's smile at this obviously unnecessary explanation. "The baby is my sister Lydia, this is my stepfather Gabriel… and that is my mother…"

Jill peered at the woman with a feeling of familiarity: "I feel like I've seen her before, you know. Is she…"

Ada nodded "She goes by her family name, still. Fontaine. Marion Fontaine."

Jill mouthed the name trying to place the name. Then she remembered… "The cosmetics lady; owns that what are they called group…"

"Yes, Nuralis. Although as I'm sure you could've guessed, Nuralis is just a front company for Umbrella Inc. really."

Frowning with surprise at this new information, Jill thought for a second. She looked at Ada's pained expression as she held the photo. No… it couldn't be.

"She's the one isn't she? Your mother; she's the one threatening them. She's the one who wanted the information?"

She felt sick enough asking, but this was exacerbated exponentially when Ada nodded to confirm it. She reached over and hugged her girl, looking with incredulous horror at the photo. Her own mother…

Marion Fontaine… she was one of those people you saw in the papers or on the news from time to time, always on the arm of someone famous. Nuralis was a brand name that seemed to have been around forever… you didn't really think of people like that as being entirely real, Jill had always thought.

"So… you worked for her, then?" Jill asked.

"I guess you could say it like that. But it was more like…"

Jill squeezed her arm and rubbed along it with firm reassurance. "Don't, okay baby? I told you already, and we both agreed. It's _their_ fault okay? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Ada's face was a mask of miserable pain, filled with loathing both for her mother and for herself. Jill felt a sudden desire to inflict great harm on Miss Marion Fontaine.

"Industrial espionage, blackmail… even contract killing. That's the kind of person she made me into. The stupid thing is, she doesn't see herself as someone evil – she thinks everyone else is, but never her. 'Umbrella creates monsters', she always says, 'but I create angels'. She sees herself as a sort of balance, taking some good out of the evil they do."

Jill nodded: "That's the way it goes. People have to find a way to convince themselves. That's why everything always gets so warped and crazy where the T-Virus project is involved. It's so… apart from reality that I guess it gets easier, the further you go. But… how did they… I mean what interest did they have in her, how did she even get involved?"

"Well, we came over to Germany after my father died, my real father I mean. The only relatives we had left were over there. But the only survivor was this old man. I think he was my mother's… uncle maybe? Anyway, he was dying of lung cancer, but before he died, he passed on a few small businesses to my mother. Nuralis was one of them – it was just small time back then, though"

She touched her hand to the man in the photo. Jill felt her heart warm at the affection in Ada's eyes when she looked at the man. She couldn't bear to think that her girl had never had anyone. Ada saw her looking and explained:

"He was the priest looking after the old man. He was always so kind and funny. After the old man passed on, he stayed around to help us all out. He and my mother were married soon after. It was okay by us; Lydia and me, we loved him, still do. He has no idea what kind of person my mother really is… it'd break his heart if he knew…"

Jill took Ada's hand and kissed it. She suspected that her girl still loved her mother somewhere deep inside. Love was cruel that way.

"She sold all the other companies; put all the money into Nuralis. She's an excellent businesswoman - before we knew it, Nuralis was an industry leader. People just loved mother, they wanted to help her and do what she asked them to do. I… I wanted to be just like her. She was always…"

Tears rolled slowly down her cheek. She waved Jill off however, wiped them away and continued:

"She was always so beautiful. I wanted to be like her. And for a while… ah, but she soon turned on me. I didn't know it then, but she'd already started her own private research. Someone at Umbrella had told her about the T-Virus – cell regeneration, that sort of thing. She'd gotten some samples and… oh, you should have _seen_ the girls she brought to show us."

Ada shook her head sadly, as if ashamed, but also still in awe. It was the Umbrella way, Jill thought. For all their evil, it was still fascinating in a horrible way.

"That was pretty much the time we fell out actually. When I started to realize that I was less interested in the family business and more interested in the girls wearing the products…"

Ada laughed, but it was a laugh full of bitterness and injustice.

"When she found out, she went crazy. She dragged me through the house by my hair, locked me in the basement for a week with no food and water… I almost died."

Jill pulled her chair close to Ada's and lifted her to sit up to her, careful not to hurt her with the cuffs. She circled her arms round her girl. She didn't know what to say; wished she could take the cuffs off and comfort her properly. But there was more to hear, and she still had to be wary of Ada in this emotional state.

"She just kept screaming that I was evil, that I was full of sickness and… She told me that she was sending me away to a special school; that I was never to see my father and sister again, because the shame of what I was would kill them."

Jill clung onto her, shaking her head at what she was hearing. "Adi, you're not evil. She just had to find someone to blame for what she was doing. I take it the girls she was 'treating' developed… symptoms?"

"I think so. They dropped out of sight around then - the research was going badly I think. At its core, the T-Virus simply isn't… well it makes monsters like she said. Her work was taking more and more time, costing more and more money. The way I understand it, Sir Spencer eventually decided enough was enough. He told her to stop her research and just concentrate on making money for Umbrella. That was where I came in, though."

"Ah, this school was…"

Ada nodded, nuzzling against Jill, clutching the photo in her free hand so hard it was starting to crumple.

"Our motto was 'Obedience breeds Discipline, Discipline breeds Unity, Unity breeds Power, Power is Life'. You see, mother had to have money. She was approached by people who offered her huge sums if she could get certain jobs done on the quiet. She was well respected and she'd always had an eye for talent and discretion. And with me she had the perfect tool: someone she could control utterly. I did all the dirty jobs she gave me and she took the money for her work."

"I'm so sorry Adi. It must have been awful" Jill murmured. She'd thought her folks were bad! She wouldn't cross the road to help her father, but this was terrible.

"Never mind me – what about the girls she was testing on? I didn't want to do it; I hated it. But she always kept me on the leash. She told me if I didn't do exactly as she said, she'd kill my father and my sister. And they love her so much – there's no way they'd ever have believed it even if I could have found a way to tell them."

Jill rocked her softly: "It wasn't your fault" she insisted.

"As time wert on, even that wasn't enough though. I started to let go; realized that they were already dead really. The time I was buying them was only ever going to be borrowed time. So then she said she'd infect them with the T-Virus, so I'd always have a reminder of what she made her do."

Jill felt numb. There were no words… this had gone beyond simple love and sympathy for her girl. She simply lent her head against Ada's. Nothing she could say would be enough to tell her girl how much she cared. And Ada seemed to accept this, because she finished with:

"But then I met you, and I knew I couldn't do it anymore, not even for them. No, don't – I'm glad! I'm glad it's going to be over, Jill! You gave me the strength to stand up to her at last. As I watched you, I knew I wanted to be with you, and that I couldn't do anything to harm you, not even if she carried out her threat."

"I had it all planned out you see: steal the information, make it look authentic without giving any real details away. Play for time, until we could save my family. I had these fantasies where we'd ride in and save them. But then we actually met that night… and I just knew it wasn't going to work. I couldn't take the information, even to fake it, and I couldn't ask you to go through the nightmare again. I realized I only cared about you, and that around you, I was starting to forget about them altogether!

Jill had felt icy cold but also intense warmth inside at this, knowing that her girl had finally succumbed just to be with her. She felt guilty, but proud at the same time. And Ada was right – you couldn't keep playing their games. Sometimes, you just had to take a stand.

"You…you should have told me. We could have worked something out!"

"No… it's over - it was meant to be over, anyway. Last night was the deadline. I chose you - I let go. I finally felt free. And then I got a text - an anonymous one - saying that Lydia was still alive."

"But what if it's…"

"Even if it is a trap. She's my sister, Jill. I have to find out; I have to know its over."

Saying this, Ada screwed up the photo in her hand. She looked back at Jill with a steely look in her eyes. Jill stood up and pondered what had been said.

"And you were going to just leave me here, is that it? You thought I'd be okay with that, sitting here worrying to death? How were you even getting there, how long can it be before someone else goes to help or clean up?"

The table scraped as Ada tried to rise, and sat back down in frustration pulling with futility at the handcuffs.

"I'm sorry, Jill. I can't ask you to do this for me. I'm so happy that I have a home again after all this time. I can't risk it; I won't risk you to my mother's insanity. I've arranged to catch a plane in about 2 hours. A guy I know – Mack and his wife Deb, they're flying me."

Jill reached into the purse and took out the phone. She clicked it on. The call sheet listed a Mack. She handed the phone to Ada.

"Better tell them you might be a bit late then."

"Really? You'll really let me go?" Ada's face lit up with joy and love.

"If that's how my girl wants it, then that's how it's got to be" reasoned Jill standing up. "I won't lie – I wish I was going with you, but…"

Ada grabbed her hand "You know I'd want you to, but you should stay here. It's too much to ask of you after what you said last night. Don't put yourself through that again. It hurt you so much - I couldn't allow it to happen again."

"No, I didn't think so. Even if I tried to come along, you'd find some way to ditch me, thinking it was best for us. But I think I know what's best in this case."

"What are you…ahh!"

The needle slid into her arm, and Jill swiftly injected the contents, before cradling her in her arms as she started to swoon.

"Jill… what… no…"

"Shh, baby girl. I'll see you on the plane. Go to sleep now. Shh."

No matter how you tried, you always seemed to end up playing their games. She'd sworn it was the last time in Raccoon City. But it looked like there was going to be one last hurrah after all…


	7. Chapter 7

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Seven.**

"_Jill, I'd like you to meet Gabriel, my father…"_

_Jill smiled nervously, standing up almost unnaturally straight and fidgeting with her clothes, before finally reaching over to shake his hand. Ada tried to exude an air of calm, but couldn't help wringing her hands furiously behind her back. _

_If Gabriel had noticed their discomfort, he gave no sign of it. He merely smiled with his usual warmth and shook Jill's hand as casually as you would with the oldest of friends. This seemed to relax Jill considerably, and Ada could see the tension falling from her shoulders. _

"_I've heard so much about you Sir, it's an honor. Adi… er, Ada ('Nice going baby, make it really obvious why don't you?' Ada winced slightly) talks about you all the time."_

_Gabriel looked over to her with a look of mock chastisement._

"_Really? Not that she ever gets home to see her folks, eh? Always on the go, our Adi." (Ada shifted uncomfortably, hoping this was all just the usual 'parents making fun of their kids in front of their friends' routine)._

"_Anyway" he continued. "It's nice to finally meet you too. She's been talking about bringing you round to see us for ages. You're a policewoman, I understand - I have a great regard for the police… (Jill looked uneasy, plainly wondering whether to tell him she was retired from the force – Ada decided to cut in and save her girl)._

"_Father, stop it. You're embarrassing her. She didn't come here to talk about that. She came to meet you and… Liddy, you made it!"_

_The party turned about to greet this newcomer. With Jill and Gabriel's back turned, Ada mouthed 'Be good or else!' to Lydia. Lydia nodded with a sigh, before breaking into a sunny smile and greeting Jill. _

"_They seem to be getting on well" commented a familiar voice from behind her._

"_Of course they are. They're all the people I love – it makes sense they would like each other" she replied without turning around. She moved her hands to her front, wringing them worse than ever._

"_Nervous about something? Why is that I wonder – it is going well isn't it? Perhaps it's because… oh well surely you've told them about you and Miss Valentine, yes?"_

_Ada watched her lover and her family talking pleasantly, exchanging jokes and stories. Gabriel laughed loudly, and Lydia seemed overawed by Jill's police status, asking for details on all sorts of grisly crimes. Jill looked back occasionally with a nervous 'help me', but she seemed to be having fun._

"_Perhaps I should go and tell them, if you can't. Don't they have a right to know? Don't they deserve to know what you have done… what you made me do?"_

"_No, don't!!" Ada cried, whirling round to face her. But there was nobody there. Turning back, she saw that the scene had changed slightly. Jill was cringing away as Gabriel and Lydia advanced on her, anger and contempt on their faces._

"_With my daughter?! Right under our noses, smiling and shaking our hands, as you poisoned her away from us with your… deviant ways!" Gabriel roared, shaking with righteous anger._

"_You're a freak, just like my freak sister! The two of you together, it's so disgusting! Don't touch me!"_

_Ada ran forward, pushing them heavily aside, grabbing Jill and putting herself between her girl and… this wasn't her family. She clamped her eyes shut, shunting Jill back and away._

"_It isn't you anymore. They aren't like that; they wouldn't say things like this!" _

_Opening her eyes, she caught a brief glimpse of running make up, scars and sores appearing on smooth skin, before she was thrust out of the way. They seized Jill and forced her to the ground. They were facing away, but Ada could feel the change now, feel the hunger… Her girl reached up at her, her face a mask of pure terror._

"_Do it then" suggested the voice. "Kill them, kill us. Do we mean nothing to you, girl?"_

_Her mother strode past her, armed with a sword that gleamed in the darkness, sometimes with a holy glow, at others with an awful, sickly light. Ada looked down – she had a gun in her hand. Her girl was screaming for her, but she'd have to kill more people she loved, her family. _

"_You can't do it, can you? Be honest…"_

"Jill!"

With a jolt, Ada snapped awake. Pulling up into a sitting position, she flinched as her arm throbbed – someone had put a plaster over where the needle had gone in, probably just to be safe. Another plaster had been applied to her ankle, where Jeanie had got her. As she rubbed her arm, she was suddenly jolted to the side, and almost collapsed out of the bed. Where…

"Jill, where are you?!" she called frantically. Just a dream, she told herself. Just a dream. Jill… what was… where?

Taking in the room about her, her memory slowly clicked into gear. She was clearly aboard Mack and Deb's cargo plane. This was the cabin that she used when she flew with them – her room. This simple, featureless cabin was the closest place to home she'd had these last few years. Looking about, she saw her cases piled up nearby… and a nightgown that definitely belonged to Jill… she sank back against the wall with a huge sigh of relief.

Running her hands over her face and through her hair, she resolved to get up and find her girl. They had… things to talk about. As she pulled on the nightgown, she spotted her mobile lying near the bed. It was switched on, and upon examination revealed a new text from… Jill!

Excited, but slightly worried this might mean she wasn't onboard, Ada viewed the text. She gave an involuntary cry of delight as a photo flashed up on the screen. Jill's cat (and hers too, she reminded herself), Jeanie was pictured pawing the screen with interest. Underneath, a message read: "Very sorry – J." Cupping a hand to her mouth to stifle the delighted laughter, she held the phone close.

"Oh, I'm going to _kill_ you" she sighed happily. Her girl always knew how to get around her, it seemed.

Still somewhat groggy from the sedative, Ada paced slowly towards the cockpit, falling against the wall at intervals as the plane lurched about. Mack's usual professional approach to flying – without Deb as co-pilot, he'd probably have ended up inside a mountain years ago.

She stopped in her tracks as familiar voices floated out of the cockpit. Mack, Deb… and Jill! She crept along outside, seized with a nosy desire to know what they were saying.

"Yeah, nothin' we wouldn't do for our little Adi" Mack was saying in his usual loud manner. "We wouldn't be here if not for her – company tried to do us in a few years back, see? Saw more than we were meant to and that was that – we were for the chop. Sent a real pro after us they did - show the girl your scar."

Ada bit back a laugh. They liked to dress these things up. The 'pro' Umbrella had sent had been strictly small time, and hadn't gotten anywhere near them before she'd dealt with him. Deb's scar was pretty horrible – a large scar down her back (she could hear Jill praising them for their courage – the two old rogues), but that was a souvenir from a shark which had attacked them during one of their many crash landings.

Ada realized she was beaming with happiness. Hearing Mack and Deb's voices again after all this time. She didn't get to see them as much as she wanted to, even though they were practically family. They had to keep moving, because as far as Umbrella knew, they were dead and it was safer for everyone that it stay that way. Now they were here, and they seemed to be getting on with Jill too. It gave her a warm feeling inside.

"_Get away from her!"_

_She pointed the gun at the back of Gabriel's head. He turned to face her, the same old smiling face. But a trickle of blood running from the eye socket told that it wasn't him, not really. Her hand wasn't shaking – she'd have thought it would be shaking._

"_What are you doing?!" _

_Her voice was a shriek, full of disbelief and outrage, as the sounds of the gunshots faded and the bodies slumped to the floor. Ada stared with cold defiance at her, daring her to try something. She loved them, but they'd tried to hurt her girl, her Jill. And there was only one response to that, whoever they might be…_

She leaned against the wall at this sobering recollection. Perhaps it wasn't such a good thing to let them get so close, when the choice was already made. Not it would come to that, but… She needed to get it together. There were trials ahead and… she and Jill had things they needed to discuss. She needed to focus.

Straightening up, she marched into the cabin abruptly, to the great surprise of the occupants. Mack and Deb both turned to greet her, broad smiles appearing on their faces (which faded somewhat, when they saw her stern demeanor). Also surprised at her sudden appearance, Jill had risen to her feet at her side…

Anticipating Jill's urge to reach out to her, she moved slightly forward, feeling her girl pull back, hurt and confused. She pushed her annoyance with herself aside – she needed to make her feelings plain to her girl, tell her exactly where they stood. She needed to speak to her alone. She cleared her throat:

"I see you've all met" (There was a general murmur of cautious agreement). "Well then, Mackie, Debs, er, would you mind if I spoke to Miss Valentine in private for a second?"

She didn't look at Jill as she said this. Mack and Deb looked at each other with what Ada was sure were rolled eyes, before Deb turned to her, brushing her straggly blonde hair out of her eyes – perfectly safe for flying Ada thought to herself affectionately.

"No, you two go on. Wouldn't mind a minute with you first though. Not seen you in how long after all?"

Mack nodded, still looking a bit uneasy. Ada nodded quietly and steeling herself, turned to face Jill. Her girl was standing politely and respectfully in the corner, wearing casual shirt and trousers. She had a look of deep discomfort and worry for Ada. 'Be strong' Ada commanded herself. 'You might never get another chance to tell her how much she means to you'.

"Please. I'll join you in a minute, Jill" she said in as firm a voice as she could muster, setting her face in her best 'Don't question my orders' way. Jill looked like she might object, but then simply nodded and after an aborted attempt to stroke her arm, walked out.

Turning back, she opened her mouth, but was drowned out as Mack slammed down his sticks and swung around. The plane lurched as Deb struggled to regain control, but Mack took no notice. He was so angry he'd even left his coffee cup resting on his prized first edition copy of _Biggles_ – Ada had never seen him like this.

"What the _hell_ was that?! What's the matter with you, my girl? That's a fine young lady you've got there, and you're treatin' her like _garbage! _Now I know your mum's gone crazy and all, and I won't deny that Jill here turning up with you drugged and waving guns at us was a bit much at first, but that's no excuse, am I right?"

"No excuse, Adi" Deb agreed over her shoulder, wiping the glass in front of her and squinting like she couldn't make out if they were good or heading for a cliff face.

Ada was dumbstruck. Faced with Mack's scolding expression (extremely unusual for him, as he was usually the jolliest man alive), she eventually managed:

"Well… you seem to have taken to her, anyway…"

Mack snorted and turned around, muttering about 'kids' and 'who'd have them'. Deb turned to her with a severe, but loving look on her face.

"Look Adi, we haven't known her as long as you have…" ('You almost have' thought Ada to herself), "but we're not daft…" (A loud cry echoed around the cabin as Mack discovered '_Biggles_' now sported a dark coffee rim on the cover). "… But anyone can tell that girl's crazy about you. Coming with you on a… well, coming along now – you're lucky to have someone like her."

Ada shifted uncomfortably at this lecturing. She didn't need them to tell her how wonderful her girl was. This was so embarrassing. Mack turned back to her – nobody was looking out the window now…

"So you get back there and say you're sorry, missy. If it were me, I'd tell you where to get off, but that's girl got class, so…"

Ada nodded; it was easier to let them think they'd convinced her. It seemed to work as before she left, they seemed to cheer up considerably and insisted on giving her a big hug and a kiss each. She couldn't help but return it – it was so good to see them again. But she didn't have time for big reunions; she had to speak to her Jill.

When she returned to the cabin, Jill was facing away from her. The cabin was something of a mess now, suitcases lying open next to piles of bric-a-brac, as Jill sorted through them, folding up clothes, checking weapons etc. Ada hung about in the doorway for a second, just watching her. She wished they were back home, where she could sneak up and coil round her – something fun. Where they were going, there would be precious little fun.

As she was about to draw attention to herself, Jill suddenly stopped and straightened up, holding one of Ada's dresses. She held it tightly to herself, cradling it like Ada was actually wearing it, before kissing it and resuming her folding. Ada felt utterly wretched for making her girl feel like this. It was time to fix all that…

She walked into the room, taking care to make some clatter, so Jill would hear her. She fought back a smile as Jill jumped and whipped around, holding the dress behind her like she'd been caught with her hand in the jar. There was an awkward silence, broken only by the roaring of the wind outside.

"Hi" Ada finally managed, desperate to break the deadlock.

"Hi" Jill responded, trying a small, cautious smile. "I was just sorting through our things. I didn't know what you'd want, so I brought everything you had in your car…"

She gestured at the cases and moved to show what she had been doing, plainly nervous and probably wondering if Ada was still angry. 'I'm not angry at you' Ada thought to herself. 'I'm angry at me!'

"Jill… I… Jill, stop please" she stressed, in an apologetic tone. Jill looked up at her, questioningly.

"You don't need to do all this yourself. Let me…"

"No, no - I want to. I mean, if I'd have just _talked_ to you, maybe I'd have known what to bring."

She slammed one of the cases shut: "But _no_, I had to go and…"

Ada shook her head "You're not to blame! I was the one who brought the stuff… you've done something wonderful for me, and I've just been a total bitch to you about it."

Jill leaned heavily forward, her head almost touching the case. "You know I don't like you talking about yourself like that, baby" she commented in a tired voice.

Ada looked down at the floor, half scolded, half joyful at her girl's concern for her. She skirted around the debris to the bed, and sat down lost in thought. She knew what she wanted to say, but all the years of lying and manipulating were hard to shake off, just like that. And she couldn't get this wrong - she'd already made enough mistakes.

"But it's true, Jill. Well… actually, it's not true. It's… oh, I'm doing it again" Ada tailed off, disgusted at herself.

Jill seemed to perk up at this, however. Beaming with a look of contented pride, she dragged one of the cases over, and sat down on it facing her. Ada returned her questing smile, gripping the edge of the bed as the plane rocked slightly.

Jill reached down and picked something up. It was part of the cord from her nightgown: she must have stood on one of the loose ends when she was sitting down and getting comfortable. Checking, she saw it had indeed been pulled almost free. She shook her head with irritation, before starting with surprise as something batted against her hand.

Jill had flicked the end at her, and was sitting with a 'Got you!' expression on her face. Responding with delight to this playful gesture, Ada grabbed the cord at her side, and they started tugging at it gently.

"Just say what's on your mind, Adi. You know you can say anything to me."

Ada nodded, and pulled her legs up to sit cross legged, as they worked the cord from side to side.

"Well, I know you find me a bit hard to understand at times (Jill beamed), but I want you to know what I mean this time. I just don't want to get it wrong again."

They tugged at the cord tenderly.

"I didn't want you to come, because I thought you were going to put yourself through something too terrible… just for me. I didn't want that… I mean I didn't want you to get hurt, physically obviously, but up here too (she motioned to her head). That was my only reason I swear, that I was thinking of anyway…"

"I know. You were doing it for me, I get it. But Adi, I don't need to be wrapped in cotton wool, okay? I can look out for myself. Besides, I _like_ taking care of you – and you like it when I do - don't bother to deny it, little lady! "

Ada smiled in happy agreement at this, but was undeterred. Leave nothing unsaid…

"Yes, but… I just didn't want you to have to do it all yourself now, now that I'm around. I was going to take care of everything. That woman at your shop, your stupid neighbors…"

"My neighbors?!" Jill exclaimed in an amused voice. "Which ones? You mean the Crandons, over the road? Adi, they're harmless - they're just some old busybodies!" she laughed.

Ada smiled weakly, aware of how silly she had been. But she'd had her reasons…

"But you forget Jill; I saw you when you were really unhappy. Every day I'd see you more miserable than I could bear, during the time I was…"

"Stalking me?" offered Jill mischievously.

"Whilst I was biding my time", insisted Ada unable to resist returning the grin briefly. "But you're happy now right – I make you happy don't I?" (Jill looped the cord around Ada's wrist and swung it about happily).

"So I didn't want to burden you with this. I didn't want to be the one who made you unhappy again. I needed to get my house in order, so I could be with you… so we could do things like this!"

She dropped her head, waiting for the obvious flaw in her plan which she had stupidly overlooked. Soon enough, the cord batted against her face, causing her to look up.

"I think you mean _our_ house, don't you? We agreed, right? Our place is together, our problems are shared? It's our house that needs to be in order – unless it only works one way…"

Ada loosened the cord and slapped it lightly against Jill for teasing her: "Don't even joke about that! I was wrong, okay? I was… stupid… again."

She felt a sharp tug on the cord – Jill was looking with furious love at her.

"Hey! It's not as if you didn't care, is it? You just thought it through too much – trying not to hurt me, wanting me to be safe, that's great. But me and you… it's simpler than that; we don't need all this extra baggage, complicating things, do we? We both know the truth, how it has to be."

Ada nodded in agreement: "I guess I just thought… well I was thinking, and I really didn't need to, just like you said. I knew what I wanted, what felt right, but I didn't listen. I thought I could go back to how I was to get this business sorted, just until this was over, but… I can't."

The plane jerked again, causing them to lurch about. Both hung tightly to their end of the cord, eyes fixed on each other. Jill caught the look of worry in Ada's eyes:

"I know it's scary Adi, but we can't ignore it. I tried to tell you when I was speaking about Chris…"

"Yes, that's it exactly!" Ada blurted out, relieved to have a chance to talk about it. "I had a dream… er, a dream about us."

"Oh?" Jill enquired with a decidedly mischievous air.

"Not that kind of dream… not this time anyway!" (Jill had looked slightly disappointed, to her delight). "It was, well it was kind of about what I'd do if I had to choose between you and my family."

Jill froze, and Ada tugged the cord frantically, trying to win her back.

"I'm alright. Look baby, I understand… they're your family…"

"No, I chose you of course!" Ada almost shouted with genuine indignation. "How could you think otherwise?" (Jill was looking utterly humbled and relieved). "I can't let anyone hurt you, Jill. Nobody. If they try to, then it doesn't matter who they are… I'll stop them. And it did scare me when I realized that… because I'm fine with it. Even though I love them, it makes perfect sense to me to stop them if they try and hurt you. I mean, is that wrong? Should I be feeling bad about that, because I can't, Jill, I can't."

Jill thought for second, rocking as the plane jolted again. Then she quickly looped the cord around her wrist, until their hands were touching.

"It is what it is, Adi. It is scary and perhaps some might think it was, I don't know, wrong or monstrous or… but it feels right. I don't think it would do us any good to try and fight it, so…"

"I don't want to fight it! That's the point. I just knew before, when I woke up and you weren't here, that nothing else mattered, all the words… I just wanted you here. I wanted you to be safe, I didn't want you to suffer… but I couldn't make myself care about that suddenly. I just needed you here."

"It isn't wrong to admit that, Adi. None of it. I know you care about your family; I know you worry about me and what I've been through…"

"And I do, I really do!"

"I know, will you listen?!" she scolded gently, resuming the tug of war game. "But we have to be honest about this. Whether it hurts, whether it's a good idea or not in any given situation…"

"I want to be with you… always. I need to be" Ada blurted out.

"And I need to be with you" agreed Jill. "And that's really all there is to it."

The room was so quiet and still, seeming suddenly free of the turbulence outside. What little wind could still be heard, seemed to roar just that little quieter. They sat looking at each other, content that the truth had been spoken. Being here, connected by threads both visible and invisible - this was how their life had to be from now on.

"And now…" Jill said, standing up and approaching her. Ada reached up for her, brimming with desire.

"Now you need to get some more sleep!" Jill finished, kissing her on the forehead and indicating that she should get under the covers.

"I… what… oh Jill, _no_…" she complained.

"Never you mind, no; you're exhausted, I can tell. Bed, young lady!"

It was no use arguing – she was feeling pretty tired still, and there would be little time for rest when they arrived. With some feeble attempts to resist rebuffed, she therefore allowed herself to be tucked in. She held on stubbornly to Jill's hand.

"What about you – you need sleep too?"

"I'll be right there. I've just got to finish packing up all the things we need.

"Well… I could help you. We put our house in order together remember?" she ventured hopefully.

"Ah ha, nice try. But you're forgetting – we do things together - unless I'm obviously right. In which case, you do as you're told!"

They giggled warmly, both wondering at how relaxed and calm they felt, given what was coming…

The wind howled and roared, swirling in great blasts across her body. It buffeted here and there, body blow after body blow before… with a great gusting lift, she was falling slowly and gently towards the earth. The wind brushed lightly against her cheek, smoothing itself over her, like a thousand hands lifting her reverently towards the ground that was rushing up to meet her.

Fighting through the exhilaration she felt upon seeing her girl descending in like fashion, she gripped tightly to the parachute, scanning the field below for any signs. She had to ready in case there was… company waiting down there. They were somewhere out there; that was for certain. It was getting dark down there, but there was enough light to make out that the field was clear.

Rolling up the parachute, she looked over and saw Jill standing quietly on the hilltop, looking out over the land - steeling herself for the task ahead. 'This must be so hard on you - thank you so much, baby' Ada thought to herself. But Jill was going to be alright; she'd make sure of that…

"_I'm not going to tell you again. Get away from my girl, mother!"_

_Marion looked up, her face a mask of purest beauty as always, but with deepest scorn and contempt in her eyes. _

"_Or what, child? I'm not one of those things. I'm a normal person – I'm your mother! Perhaps these things weren't your father and sister anymore, but I'm still m…"_

_CRACK!!_

'And you won't be able to complain, if it comes to that mother', Ada thought to herself. 'We're only using the rules you people set down, after all. Forget about the consequences and the world - only concentrate on the things and people you love. Well now you'll choke on those rules - if you get in our way, we'll run you down, my baby and me'.

She walked over to where Jill was standing and offered her hand. Her girl looked over, her face a mixture of determination and undying affection. Ahead, the sky and the land shone in amber and black, illuminating the two as they held hands in silence, ready and unafraid.


	8. Chapter 8

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Eight.**

"Woagglhhh!!"

Her scream turned into a choking gag as her mouth and throat filled with river water. Feeling as if an icy hand had suddenly reached inside her and started to crush her from within, she was only dimly aware that a powerful force had gripped her by the shoulder and under the arm. The world had turned murky black and cold… so very cold.

"Urwahhh! _No_!!"

An explosion of light and color was eclipsed by a rotting, savage face lurching forward to snap its jaws around her neck. Instinct had taken over, her hands were around the thing's neck and arm, pushing and squeezing. She could feel her fingers sliding through the skin in places, pushing into the necrotic flesh… There was nothing in its eyes… they stared right through her, completely dead despite the savage hunger of the body they inhabited. Soulless…

A judder, then another and another. The thing flinched as holes erupted in its torso and head. Still not wholly in command of her actions, Jill nevertheless took the opportunity. With a violent yank, she broke free of the monster's grip and shoved it away as forcefully as she could. At this, she fell back against the rocky causeway, choking and fighting for breath. Casting around as she gasped, she saw the shotgun lying where she had dropped it. But where… there!

"Adhhh!!"

Her girl was standing close by, pointing her gun at the slumped body of the zombie. Riddled with bullet holes, it had fallen forward onto the causeway. Jill could see that Ada was inching towards her, a look of concern on her face as she kept glancing over at her. She weakly made to gesture that she was alright, but before she could…

"Adi! _No!_"

She'd turned to run over to her, and then she was falling forward. She put out her hands in time, but still hit the rock with some force, which appeared to stun her. Behind her the monster was rising to its feet, pulling her back as it rose. Jill watched in horror… and then clarity came.

It returned so easily, the fire, the rage and contempt for this unnatural _thing_, this creature that should not exist, that she should never have had to see. And now it was threatening her girl… the way was clear. No more.

With a loud crack, the shotgun butt splintered the thing's skull at the temple. The force of the impact caused it to jerk back, releasing Ada. Without giving it time to recover, Jill brought the gun round in an arc and delivered another even more forceful blow to the ribs. Moving to put the causeway to her back, she jabbed with the butt of the shotgun and used brute strength to press her attack on the reeling creature.

Seeing an opening she lashed out straight at the thing's face. She could feel the bone give; saw the arms reaching for her suddenly flail as its sight failed, its eyeballs perhaps ruptured by thin shards of breaking bone. Then pushing against the causeway, she grunted with exertion as she thrust her leg forward catching the thing square in the stomach and sending it staggering back through the water.

As she was about to finish it off with the shotgun, it again erupted with small holes across the surface of its body. A swift succession of 'thups' from behind her revealed that Ada was back in the fight. She chanced a look round and saw her girl kneeling behind her, snapping off shots. The last of the shots took out the zombie's hip causing to buckle over. Jill readied the shotgun and pulled the trigger…

She sank back against the causeway, breathing heavily. Setting the shotgun down, she lifted herself up to a sitting position. Immediately she felt an arm slide around her waist, as Ada crouched next to her, gun still trained on the body that now floated peacefully on the water. She stroked Ada's arm, and lifted up her hand to her mouth, kissing it.

"Are you al…?" they both started, smiling.

Jill looked down. She was freezing in the river water, but she didn't think she was hurt. Ada made sure, lifting her legs out of the water and carefully inspecting her for injuries, until she drew back, satisfied. A quick look revealed that Ada too was unharmed, aside from a tear in her dress near the leg.

Ada gave a small moan of dismay as she saw this, and shuffled close to Jill for comfort, giving her a look like it was the end of the world. Jill grinned with delight as her girl picked and fussed at her dress, before finally calming down with a quietly mortified expression on her face.

"I told you to put something more hard wearing on, baby" she chided gently. "At least we didn't get hurt, eh?" she continued, trying to cheer her up.

Ada nodded miserably, but looked unconvinced that the tear was not a major setback to their plans. Seeing that Jill was plainly freezing however, she pushed this aside and started sorting through their bags for an old shirt or something else to get the worst off.

"Well… it's not like we really have to avoid contact at all costs" she commented as she ran the shirt vigorously through Jill's hair. "I mean, the virus doesn't transmit _that_ easily."

Jill looked round, wondering what she meant by that. She tried to get her to turn round, suspicious that she might have been hurt. But no, she seemed fine.

"I'm not… I'm not hurt okay!" Ada snapped, twisting away from her. "I was just saying even if I _had_ been hurt, it wouldn't have been the end. You need a lot of virus to start changing. One bite wouldn't have done it – it usually gets transferred when they feed on bodies… I was just a little thrown was all, worried about you…"

Jill thought she understood now. Ada was feeling a bit responsible for not being of more help.

Jill quickly reassured her: "I'm just glad you're alright. Look, we're both used to going solo on these things, but we're going to be alright. We took care of it… I think we're just getting old is all!"

"Oh, getting old's nothing to worry about, baby" Ada replied cheerfully. "Just think what we have to look forward to after all – checking into the old folks' home as sisters who _really_ like each other…"

Laughing at this break from the danger they were in, they relaxed a little. Jill stood up and started pacing about, trying to warm up. Ada meanwhile, leant back on her hands, casting about with a nostalgic look on her face. Jill joined her in taking in the scene, looking with renewed wonder at the splendor of her girl's home. She began to understand how apprehensive Ada had felt when entering their home back in the city.

"It's really happening" Ada mused aloud, looking at where the monster's body was bobbing gently in the water.

Jill looked over at her. She had a look of wonder on her face: troubled but excited as well, probably.

"Did you like it here?"

Ada shifted uncomfortably. Jill suspected she would try and make like of it…

"Well, sort of…"

"Liar" she chided with affection, getting a grin from her girl in reward.

"Well okay, I suppose I did like it here. Things were different back then. I used to love exploring the estate, and living in a real castle… you can imagine how fun that was for a kid…"

She had a faraway, dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke. Jill felt her soul lift to see her like this.

"I spent so long thinking of how I could get back here, I can't believe I finally am…" She looked over at Jill: "But that was then. This place hasn't been home for a long time. And I've got a better one now, anyway."

Unsure as to how to respond without either breaking into tears or seizing her girl in a loving embrace, Jill simply smiled with love at her, and returned to surveying the scene. They needed to stay focused. She couldn't believe she was this calm; she'd thought… but that was then as Ada had put it.

The sun was setting fast behind the clouds at the moment, but the river still had a crisp, lively energy to it. The evening air was filled with the sound of the water rushing and gurgling over gaps in the causeway, fast enough that it wasn't polluted with the rot of the creatures that were now loose on the estate. Were it not for the awful sight of the rotting body, floating in the water, the scene would be one of classic, wild beauty. As it was, the eye could not help but be drawn to the thing: black and decaying it seemed to collapse in on itself in the center of the river, sucking all the life along with it…

"Hey! Where are you going?! Jill, _stop_!" Ada called, leaping forward as Jill slid back into the water and gathered up her shotgun. Her girl clung about her, and looked with alarmed concern at her.

"What are you doing? Come out of there – you'll catch your death!"

Jill gently resisted her girl's tugs and indicated the body in the river: "I'm going to drag the body to the shore over there and burn it."

Ada looked lost for words, fighting to find an appropriately strong rebuke "But… but… oh _come on_, we've beaten it! Let's just go! I mean, what if it's not really dead? You know how these things are; just leave it. _Please_?"

Jill sighed and cupped her hand to her girl's face "I'll be fine… and don't even think about it!" (Ada had made to get in the water). "I just need to get it out of the water, okay? Like you said, the virus gets transferred through feeding usually. We don't need to face off against some giant killer trout when we're coming back this way, do we?"

She grinned hopefully, but Ada still looked worried. She seemed to realize finally however that the body really did need to be moved. The last thing anyone needed was the virus making its way through waterways as well as over land.

"Besides, that guy looked like some kind of gamesman to me. He's probably got some ammo we can use" Jill continued. "You just stay here and keep watch for anything coming. This won't take a minute, okay?"

She tousled Ada's hair the way she liked, before turning to get on with the job at hand. As she turned, she could feel Ada head straining forward to keep in contact with her hand as long as possible, kissing into her palm as she pulled away. Grinning back, she motioned for Ada to start keeping a look out, which her girl reluctantly began.

The water really was freezing cold. Jill could hear her teeth chattering as she stalked carefully forward. She was shaking… with the cold probably, but she couldn't deny she was scared. The body hadn't moved since it had caught the shotgun blast full in the lower face and neck. Gaping hopes in the neck, full of water, suggested it was probably dead now, but you never knew with these things.

Carefully, she skirted round it, straining to see if any other bodies were lying here. Judging by the outdoorsy jacket and trousers, this had indeed been some kind of huntsman or maybe a poacher. She wasn't sure even nobles had gamesmen these days. Reaching out, she started to pat the jacket carefully at the pockets looking for shells or anything else of interest, keeping the gun trained on it at all times. Beyond the odd bob in the water, it didn't move.

"Did it twitch, then?! I thought I saw its hand move!" Ada called in a deeply distressed voice.

Satisfied that her girl was imagining things, Jill looked up to see her still kneeling on the causeway, closely monitoring everything that went on, ready to leap in at a moment's notice. She straightened up with annoyance.

"Adi! You're supposed to be keeping a lookout!"

"Don't take your eyes off it! And I _am_ keeping watch. I don't trust that thing! Hurry up, will you? Or at least let me come over there…"

"You stay right where you are, madam!" Jill warned, pointing a finger at her. "It's not going to help me if you get ambushed because you were looking over here!"

She gestured firmly, indicating that Ada should get on with her patrol, although she was very touched at her girl's concern (not to mention that she had always been keeping at least one eye on the body in front of her…)

Turning back to continue her search, she could hear Ada sulking to herself, probably thinking Jill couldn't hear her: "Just come back here baby, making me worry like this… I'm _sure_ that thing moved. I don't _need_ to keep lookout – I'll _hear_ them coming. Cats have really _good_ hearing…"

Jill couldn't help watching her as she towed the body to the shore. Ada was doing an awful job of pretending to look anywhere but at her – she kept stealing glances when she thought Jill wasn't looking. Any anger, rage or even fear she had felt, evaporated. And she was still fussing with her dress too… Jill felt warm inside watching her.

Recovering herself, she felt the ground sloping up slightly and realized she had reached the shore. Reaching down carefully, she made to pull it up onto the land properly. But then, as she caught sight of her girl driving herself crazy about the tear in her dress, she noticed something.

The body looked… _different_ all of a sudden. The destroyed mouth seemed now to open in a lamenting scream; the eyes were crusted with dried blood that made it seem as if it was weeping. The slackness of the limbs seemed that of someone who had lost all hope, been crushed down by the horror of what had befallen it.

In that instant, she saw it as the person it had been, rather than the monster it was now. An older man of perhaps late 30's, early 40's. He had simply been a man who worked the estate; he had not deserved this. Her hand slid down the arm to the hand, and held it tenderly. She thought of her friends, of her Adi; perhaps it was only luck they were not here instead of this man. Perhaps it was something else…

She remembered the chapel… lying there waiting to die after the Nemesis had attacked her. Alone… but not alone…

"Jill!! Don't move!!"

She flinched as silenced shots thupped past behind her. Alarmed but trusting her girl's word, she didn't move a muscle, though straining to turn around. Something crashed to the ground nearby.

"Adi? What's going o…ahh!"

Ada appeared next to her, gun in hand. She swung around and saw another zombie collapsed against a nearby tree, peppered with shots to the neck and head. Mouth open, she was aware of being grabbed and found herself facing a tirade of fury from her girl.

"What were you _doing_?! You could have been killed, pulling something like that! Was it for me – were you trying to make me feel better by pretending not to hear it?! That was so _stupid_ Jill! What if I hadn't heard it? I'd never have forgiven myself…"

Slowly realizing that she was safe, had been under threat at all and starting to follow what was making her girl so hysterical, she gripped her by the arms.

"Adi, _Adi_!! I wasn't pulling anything – I didn't hear it, okay? I would never do something like that to you, you know that. I was miles away, I didn't hear it!"

Ada seemed to calm down at this, before grabbing her in a tight embrace, and moving them both away from the bodies. It took some time to fully calm her, but Jill was discovering that stroking Ada's hair rarely failed to pacify her. Finally convinced that she had been a legitimate 'hero of the hour', she was just about relaxing when she stiffened in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Jill asked, tensing for any trouble.

But Ada wasn't looking at the treeline, looking instead at the bodies nearby. She had turned quite pale. Jill moved over to look, but the zombies appeared to be truly dead this time. Oh, of course…

"You know them, don't you?" she asked quietly.

Ada nodded, "I didn't realize until… his son" (She pointed at the newer zombie, who would have been a boy of about 18-20 years old if Jill had to judge).

"They were father and son. Harold… he was only a little kid when I left. A horrible little thing, he always wanted to play hide and seek… I hated him really…"

She was shaking. Jill gathered her by the shoulders and turned her away. Ada was fighting back tears - trying to be strong it seemed, so as not to let Jill down.

"Shh. Take it slowly, okay? It's okay to feel sorry – I do too."

Jill held her by the shoulders and kissed her several times on the forehead, cheek, lips. ""I know it's hard, harder than it has been before. We don't have the luxury of being cold blooded about this, anymore. That's not the kind of person I want to be around you…" (Ada voiced her agreement with this). "We have to do this, but we're not going to let this place beat us, okay? We're going to rescue your family, put down those we have to and come out the other side as people, not monsters – of any kind."

Having established this, they made to ready to leave. Not wanting her to overdo it and wear herself out emotionally, Jill had Ada wait close by as she burned the bodies. 'I'm sorry for what happened' she thought to the hunter and his boy. 'We'll do what we can to make things right'.

_The screen flickered, showing grainy images of the two women as they continued on their way. They would arrive soon, she thought to herself. Swiveling her chair round to look at the other monitors, she stubbed into something. _

_Professor Gold's body lay on the floor, bleeding freely from where she had hit her over the head. 'Stupid woman' she thought to herself. 'All this money and you were the best I could afford?' That was the trouble with hiring experts… they never seemed to know as much as they claimed. Thought they could take you for fools, because you didn't know about the science yourself… but who was the fool now?_

_A light on the console lit up. At last! She snatched up the receiver on the phone. The familiar voice of a man sounded down the line. She knew he could not deny her._

"_Marion? You rang? Several times I understand?"_

_A strong voice, authoritarian and cultured. A wicked man to be sure, but he had been very useful over the years. And she needed that now._

"_I require your help. I have run into some.., difficulties."_

_The man sighed heavily: "We have nothing more to discuss on this subject. My answer is final, my dear. I…"_

_One of the monitors showed a horde of the shambling monsters, bearing down on one of her angels. She had nowhere to run. She turned on the speakers._

"_Hellp mee. Mommy. MooMaAHHH!!_

_The screams filled the room, and the man's voice fell silent briefly._

"_I've done something very foolish. My angels… please help my angels" she pleaded in a tone that was desperate, but still measured exactly._

"_Oh God" replied the voice finally. "Why didn't you come to me, you... are you safe? Can you get somewhere safe?"_

_There was urgency in his voice. She had to use that._

"_My angels. I cannot leave without them. They do not deserve to be blamed for my failings. All I do is for them. Will you help us?"_

_A brief silence was broken only by the man's worried breathing and someone telling him it was time for something (she had no time for anything but his reply)._

"_I am at your disposal madam, as ever. I will see what I can do. But find somewhere safe, I beg you!"_

"_I have to go now. Thank you very much."_

_Ignoring his protests for more information, she laid the receiver down and swiveled to face the newcomer. A youngish woman was leveling a pistol at her head._

"_Agent Chambers? I have been wanting to meet you for some time…"_


	9. Chapter 9

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Author's note: This Chapter will be completed soon. I think it's best to view this chapter as an additional or perhaps 'deleted' scene. I stand by the information and character work contained herein, but it isn't strictly speaking necessary - but I'm going to keep it in anyway - C.S.**

**Chapter Nine.**

"There're okay" she called with relief over her shoulder.

"Mmm hmm" came the grunted reply.

Although trying not to listen, Ada could swear she heard a ripping, tearing sound. She winced at the thought – something she had rarely ever done in the old days. She felt a bit queasy, but gritted her teeth with resolve. She had to be strong.

"They… they're at the airstrip. Nobody about, like we thought."

"Mmm hmm."

Ada half turned, but thought better of it, not wishing to get under Jill's feet. She'd probably just get told off again anyway. Not that she minded that – she liked Jill to make a fuss of her, and it relaxed Jill to scold her. But her girl was busy, and this wasn't a time for joking about.

She hopped up onto the low wall enclosing one of the many large plant arrangements that decorated the courtyard and looked about. A cursory glance might not reveal anything wrong, but here and there, there were signs that all was not well: the stables standing open where all the horses had either bolted or been killed in their stalls, scattered earth and flowers where the creatures had trampled mindlessly through.

And yet, she was calm; much calmer than she would have expected, even an hour ago. Being back here at last… she thought she'd have felt something. But the truth was that she was more concerned with the strain on Jill. She hated all this, but Jill was right – they had to do what they could to contain the infection.

"Can I look yet?" she asked, trying not to sound too worried.

"Won't be a minute" Jill replied, as she continued her grisly task. "You're not looking, are you? Don't think I don't see your game – walking round on that wall" she added with a tone of contented chastisement.

Ada sighed lightly with relief – she was okay it seemed, despite her grim work: "No, but I still don't see why I can't help you. It's not like I haven't faced these things before…"

She couldn't help herself – she realized she had been picking at the dress again too, hoping subconsciously that Jill would notice.

"But you never had to do this before, did you?" said Jill, arriving beside her and throwing her knife down, having finally finished. Moving to greet her with comfort, Ada couldn't resist flashing a look over to where the bodies were laying under the tarpaulin from the sheds…

"This isn't work you should be doing, baby" said Jill, catching her gaze and moving it away from the dire scene. "It has to be done; I'm okay with it – I just need…"

Ada gladly obliged, bending down so Jill could tap a kiss lightly on her forehead.

"_Now_ I'm good" Jill sighed, before looking with a frown at where Ada was fiddling absently mindedly with her dress again – apparently absent mindedly anyway, Ada chuckled mischievously to herself.

"So… Mack and Deb are alright, then?" asked Jill, sitting down on the stone surround.

"Mmm hmm" replied Ada with insolence, causing them both to laugh.

She stalked around, brushing her legs against Jill's back as she went - she was too restless to sit down.

"Mackie's doing his crossword and keeping lookout – i.e he's probably fast asleep by now, and Deb's just sorting through the stuff on the plane, make sure nothing was broken and such. She says the airstrip's quiet, like we figured it would be - everyone who was working there either came here to investigate or hopped on a plane and fled for their lives."

Jill nodded wearily to show her relief also, and rocked back and forth, looking about with an awed expression: "This place… It's so… I mean you just don't think that people actually live in these things anymore, do you?

She gestured around at the courtyard, the towers and battlements; the keep looming at the far end. Ada followed her gaze about, squinting to take it all in, also. Jill appeared to notice Ada's odd mood, as she reached out a hand for Ada's as she passed by again.

"How are you holding up - now we're here, I mean?" she asked with concern.

Ada shook her head and crouched next to her: "It's strange, but I think I'm okay. I'm excited and scared of what we'll find, of course… But I don't know; it looks so different than I remember it – that might be helping… amongst other things."

She interlaced her fingers with Jill, eager to remind her that she was always a welcome influence. Jill squeezed her hand encouragingly, urging to go on.

"It brings back a lot of memories, sure. But the place was falling down when we inherited it – not much of it was livable at all. We didn't have the money to renovate or restore it then – mother was asked to sell up a few times."

Jill looked about: "And it's been done up since then? Everything looks so old though…"

"That's the kind of magic mother can perform. She knows the value of face and perception. She's hired the best to work on the place, I don't doubt. She's probably remodeled the whole place inside too…"

It was obvious from her tone that she was hoping fervently that the interior would not be much changed. Regardless of everything else, this had been home for a time. Some things always stayed somewhat sacred…

Jill cocked her head thoughtfully: "So that's why she kept it in the first place then? If you look successful, people will treat you as such, right? I guess it paid off…"

"She needed something to make people take her seriously when she was starting out. A castle implies heritage, wealth and power, that sort of thing. It was the only edge she had and she didn't want to trade it away. Slumming in a broken down castle was worth it for such an image, she said."

There was a note of pride in her voice, Ada realized. After everything her mother had done, she couldn't help praising her… She swallowed down these thoughts bitterly, and stood up, eager to be off. Jill looked slightly alarmed, but recovered quickly, lifting her down off the edge and keeping hold of her around the waist.

"I'm right here with you, okay baby? It was a lot to take in, but I don't have stars in my eyes. She hurt you – that's all I need to know. It doesn't matters how many castles she has or how sharp her mind is – she had no right to do that to my girl."

Ada stroked her arms, feeling unworthy of her girl yet again: "I just want it to be over, so we can both go home" Ada managed in a quiet voice.

"Then let's go" Jill offered gently. "You never know – maybe they'll be waiting for us in the entrance hall, bags packed and ready to go!"

After some final words of intimacy and encouragement, they then set off at a steady pace for the keep. Ahead, the wide entrance doors edged closer and closer as they made their way across the deserted courtyard. Used to slinking along walls and over rooftops in these situations, Ada felt somewhat exposed.

The enormity of the situation was returning to her - she could feel her heart beating faster and faster as the doors came nearer. Having her girl at her side however, enabled her to keep moving, keep going. This was it… have to be strong…

"_Oh my God!_"

Jill had stopped dead in her tracks and turned practically chalk white as the blood had drained from her face. Ada grabbed her and started checking for wounds, casting about also for snipers or… or whatever!

"Jill! Jill, what's wrong? Can you hear me? Baby, snap out of it, what's the matter?" she babbled frantically.

Jill looked up at her, stunned and clutching at her.

"Phone" she croaked in a pained voice. "Give me the phone quick!"

Confused, but scared enough to do whatever she was told, Ada fumbled in her purse and handed it over. Jill paced away, pressing buttons and… she was sending a text to someone!

"Baby… what are you doing?" Ada asked, plucking up the courage to speak, now it seemed there was no immediate danger.

"In the luggage… you said Deb was tidying… I… I just threw things in the boot when I was going to meet the plane. I didn't think…"

A thought flashed into Ada's mind. A grin pulled at the edges of her mouth. Surely not…

"You mean…?"

"I just tipped out a drawer of clothes into a case. I was in such a rush… _oh my god_! What are they going to _think_ of me? It was awkward enough the first time, with you drugged and… they'll think I'm something awful…"

"Since when has 'it' become 'something awful'?" Ada enquired with amusement, but also some annoyance. "And it isn't like they don't know - surely you got that? There is only the one bed in my room…"

Jill looked agonized, but Ada's words began to sink in: "I… what? No, not… I meant the _timing_! We're going into grave danger on a mission for your family! It isn't really the time to be bringing… something like that along is it?"

"Something like what?" Ada asked with mischief dancing in her eyes.

"You know very well what! They'll… they'll think I'm one of these sex and violence junkies. Like in the middle of everything, I'd… _oh my god_!"

Ada burst out laughing, and embraced her. Jill looked confused and mortified, but accepted the comfort.

"This is really bothering you, isn't it?" Ada giggled. "They won't care - Deb might get a bit of a surprise, but they'll think it's hilarious – and it is, Jill! Aw, it's _okay_!"

"I wanted to make a good impression… wanted to make them understand I was going to _be_ there for you, get you through all of this…" Jill mumbled weakly.

"And you _are_, baby!" Ada cried with happy laughter, looking with wild unconcern at the castle; at the keep, wondering where their sense of foreboding and menace had gone. She couldn't believe she felt so happy standing here. It seemed her girl had magic of her own…

_The sound of laughter echoed softly around the halls. From outside, the sound of the carefree laughter of lovers could be heard. From below, the slowly receding laughter of an insane and broken soul lingered in the air. The meeting of the two sounds was indescribable – as no-one who could appreciate it was present to hear it at that time. _

_The rooms stood in silence, or else were home to unthinking monstrosities for whom the laughter meant nothing. The scene seethed with a desire to be experienced, for its chance to truly exist. Secrets lay waiting to be found in the darkness; sights that longed to be seen, sounds that could almost wish they did not have to die unheard._

_Up the stairs and behind a closed door, a darkness foamed and writhed - an evil; discontented that it had lain unnoticed these long years. Behind the simple exterior of the door, it waited, only partially sated. Perhaps it heard the laughter and was enraged all the more, or perhaps it was hopeful, knowing its time was soon to come…_


	10. Chapter 10

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Ten.**

Absence makes the heart grow fonder they said. And even though the hall bore the usual signs of an outbreak - splashes of blood, ripped and torn furnishings and an appalling stench of death and decay, Ada had to admit to a slight electric feeling. Not quite a 'home again' feeling for obvious reasons, but rather one of meeting an old friend you hadn't seen in ages.

"It's all the same – everything's the same" she muttered with hushed… reverence was it?

Probably seeing that she was a bit overwhelmed, Jill had taken charge and crept along one of the walls, looking in doorways and scanning the upstairs landing. Finally she appeared satisfied and moved back to where Ada was still standing in the entranceway.

"I think it's clear. Are you ready to do this?" she asked in a quiet, respectful tone.

Ada nodded and forced herself to move forward, one step at a time, until she was a few feet inside the hall. Jill was close by, plainly expecting her to faint at any moment. 'I'm tougher than I look' she thought, 'but thank you, anyway'. It was just that in here, things were more familiar – here she could remember the old days, before all the things that had gone wrong.

"So… where do we start then? Any ideas?" Jill asked, after a minute or so had passed.

Ada nodded: it was time to pull herself together and get on with it. She pointed to the far end of the hall, where tiers in the flagstone floor that started roughly two thirds of the way in, led up to a large mahogany desk, with a deep crimson curtain towering in the archway behind it.

"There's probably something we can use in there" she stated, moving forward, but not managing more than a few steps. She felt somewhat nauseous…

"I'm okay, I'm okay" she snapped, pulling away as Jill had leapt to support her. She immediately felt wretched for this, but turning, saw that Jill hadn't taken offence.

"It is a bit fresh in here isn't it? I suppose we'll get used to it again though…"

Jill was clearly trying to act casual about it, to put her at ease. She did have a rather skeptical look on her face however, when she looked at the desk. She noticed Ada's questioning look:

"It's just… From your timeline, the infection could only have spread this fast, if people were exposed _en masse_. So your sister either got really lucky, or someone got her to a place of safety."

"Someone had to send that text and my sister doesn't have my phone number for obvious reasons" agreed Ada.

Jill looked about the cavernous hall, before continuing: "We need to find some kind of plans or blueprints: something that'll show us places people could use in the event of an outbreak like this. I mean… are we going to find that in the secretary's desk?"

Jill seemed extremely worried at disagreeing with her on this, but it was understandable. After all, Jill didn't know her mother's ways…

"It's not the secretary's desk, Jill. It's my mother's – this is her office" Ada replied simply.

Jill's face was a picture – she looked utterly lost for words: "I… she… she keeps her office here - in the _entrance hall_?" (Ada nodded, trying not to smile). "But… why? I mean anyone could just come in and…"

Ada took her hand tenderly and pointed at the desk and surrounding area: "But no-one ever has. See all the stuff strewn about here. What you'd expect from the zombies shuffling about here and there, right? But near the desk…"

"It's clean as a whistle" finished Jill with awe, turning to face her.

"You don't know the spell my mother casts over people. The place is upside down now, but if we'd been careful, we could have got here at any time. She always had a policy that the doors in this house were never to be locked. We could have just walked in on any given day, and gone through that desk."

"But… but that _worked_? Umbrella have more reason to guard their secrets than most and she just left them out where _anyone_ could get at them? That's… suicide! All the spies and espionage agents…"

"Like me, you mean?" Ada offered, getting a cuff on the arm for her troubles.

"That's not what I meant" protested Jill.

"No, you're right. If it was really that easy, why hasn't anyone done it before, right? Why didn't I come here and try to save my family before now?"

Jill grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently but firmly: "That is _not_ what I meant, Adi! It's just a little… unexpected is all."

"She doesn't see any need to lock her secrets away. She doesn't see what she does as wrong in any way. She'd say that people who lock their doors and hide their things away, are really just saying they're afraid; that they have something to hide etc."

Ada took a few steps towards the desk, mounting the first tier. It felt like invisible barriers were pushing her back, outraged at her intrusion. Jill followed at her side, confused and bewildered.

"I… I told you – it's all about image and perception. Because people know they can steal so easily from her, it sort of prevents them from ever actually doing it. It's like some kind of righteous protection – she's trusting them not to act against her."

She forced herself forward towards the desk. Her instincts told to run, told that her if she did this, something awful was sure to happen. Jill _should_ after all, be right about this – logically, the desk shouldn't have anything important for them… not when her father or sister could have looked through it at any time… But she knew logic didn't apply here – the desk had something they needed. She was sure of it.

"So when they don't act against her, it makes them feel better about themselves, like they've received some kind of blessing for their good behavior."

She stopped, with the desk almost in touching distance. Its polished surface gleamed dully in the weak light. Files and papers were stacked neatly in piles, and there were sure to be many more in the drawers. A few photographs stood in frames, facing away. Ada knew she wouldn't be in any of those, nor would there be any hidden away somewhere, showing that her mother still cared. They would all have been destroyed by now.

"Hey, we don't have to do this now" Jill soothed, stroking and kissing her. "We can look around a bit first, maybe? Who knows what we'll find?" she offered.

Ada shook her head sadly: "You see? This is how it works – how she knows it works. Everyone always finds a reason not to, good reasons…kind reasons." (She leant against Jill in thanks, before turning to her with determination): "But we have to."

Jill gave her a searching glance to see if she was really okay with this - Ada did her best to look strong and determined. Finally she nodded supportively, but motioned her to stay put as she checked behind the curtain.

"With my enemies before me" Ada whispered, as Jill threw back the curtains and drew back, gun at the ready, before dropping it to her side in alarm.

"And my God at my back" Ada finished.

"It's… a chapel" Jill said in a quiet voice. Peering into the small personal chapel, Ada noticed her girl had a faraway look in her eyes. She moved over to her.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"No… not really – just remembering something. It's nothing…" Jill replied, her voice so soft now.

Ada felt like she was on fire, her curiosity was burning so much. It was incredibly nosy of her maybe, but she wanted to know. 'I shouldn't badger her though; she's doing so much for me, the least I can do is let her be and not intrude.' Besides, Jill would tell her when she was ready – and if she didn't, she'd just pester her until she did. She turned to face the desk…

She began picking at various files and documents, not really sure of what she was doing. Reaching under the desk, her hands lit upon a pull out tray, which she duly slid forward. Laying on the uncovered tray, a large framed photograph stared up at her. Obeying an instinctive urge, she picked it up.

The photo was an outdoor scene, probably somewhere on the estate. Twelve people, two older women and ten girls ranging from early to late twenties were caught on camera. The woman on the left of the group was her mother, though she had no idea who the woman opposite was. She was wearing a lab coat, so she was probably a doctor or scientist or such.

Some of the girls she recognized as being those that her mother had shown off all those years ago. They seemed to sparkle in the picture, faces so perfect and unmarked, but also… they looked so happy. All of them wore big, genuine smiles of contentment, not a trace of malice or sorrow in any. And mother and the doctor too - so happy and carefree… She wanted to turn around and ask Jill to hold her, but she resolved not to be so selfish whilst her girl was occupied.

Ada realized though that she was gripping the edges of the photo so tightly, her fingers were bleaching white. The glass could crack at any moment. 'Even in our best times' she thought to herself, 'You were never like that with me'. She wanted to smash this picture, rip it to pieces. But there was no point – this place had forgotten her. All the places she played, the things she did here… gone.

Even her room, one of the most beloved, private places for any child, was unlikely to have escaped. After all, it stood as a reminder of her, that she had existed here – she didn't like to think what her mother would have done to it. She probably wouldn't have used it for anything else – she'd want to keep it (albeit in a suitably desecrated and neglected way) to remind her of the 'evil' daughter she had; of the necessity of using that deviant girl to accomplish her good works (she gripped the picture ever tighter).

Maybe she should look in on the room – maybe she had to; see the violent force of her mother's hatred. Could she look at it and tell herself that her mother was wrong? Flashes of her victims flitted in her mind: people she had stolen from, betrayed and… worse. With a great effort, she lifted her head to look at the landing, at where her room…

"There's someone up there!"

Ada's mouth was still open in surprise as she realized she had not managed to utter those words – Jill had passed her, whispering the comment and leaning in to give her an encouraging squeeze as she did so. Ada felt her heart swell - Jill had been paying attention all along! She felt… looked after, special.

Thus enraptured, it took her a moment to collect herself and remember what was going on. Jill was staring up at the landing, at the… face? Looking properly at last, Ada saw a figure was definitely peering down at them – a woman most likely. She appeared to be wearing a pale white dress, and had some sort of eerie bone white mask on her face that seemed to glimmer in the darkness.

"She's running! Take that stairs – I'll head her off!" shouted Jill suddenly as the figure vanished back from view.

Jill raced off towards the right hand of two flights of stairs that reached up to the landing overhead. Ada dived after her and opened the bag at her side. Jill turned to see what she was up to.

She held up the repel gun she had snagged out of the bag. A look of alarm crossed Jill's face.

"Oh I _knew_ I should have left that in your car!"

Ada grinned from ear to ear, and fired it off. The hook flew up with a satisfying _whoosh_ wrapping around the wooden frame one of the old chandeliers. And then she was soaring again, like old times, the ceiling rushing towards her, the world opening out before her. Throwing out her legs in mid air, she swung up and over the balcony, to land lightly on the left side of the landing, gun already in hand.

Barely managing to resist the urge to cry out to her girl in triumph and bask in her praise, she pointed her gun at the newcomer. This caused the figure to pull up, like a rabbit in the headlights. Chancing a glance over, she saw Jill running along the opposite landing.

"Stop her!"

The figure had leapt up onto the balcony rail in a flash, and sprang out onto one of the chandeliers, before Ada could react. The old circular chandeliers were bolted firmly in place, but still quivered as the girl hopped across them, leaping and skipping with alluring grace. As she jumped briefly onto the large central one, Ada felt the repel gun that she was still holding, wrench out of her grasp.

Wringing her arm in pain, she saw the figure had crossed to the far end of the opposite landing, where it disappeared through a door. Jill had frozen in alarm also, but was recovering herself now from the looks of things. She turned to her, just as Ada was mounting the balcony.

"Hey hey hey!" she howled, causing Ada to look up.

"Don't give me that look! Don't even think about it, Adi! Go round!"

Ada hadn't thought anything of it – it seemed the logical thing to do: "Don't worry baby – I do this sort of thing all the time!" she called.

Seeing Jill was unmoved, she felt a jolt of irritation. Jill had plainly been impressed by that girl doing it just now – she had to give her a chance to match it!

"Oh _come onn_, baby! _Please_!" she wheedled.

Jill looked along the landing, before shaking her head. Ada was about to slam her palms down and get down in pure frustration, when Jill held out her arms and beckoned her.

"Come on then, if you're coming! Handy pair we make – she'll be long gone!" she grinned nervously.

Never mind jumping, Ada felt like she could fly to her girl, she felt so happy. Leaping and balancing just right, applying force along her body just so… one, two, easy! It was all she could do to stop herself twirling around the central chandelier's main chain! Before she knew it, she was falling – into her girl's arms, her jumps having been timed to elegant perfection.

"Happy now, show-off?" Jill gushed, sweeping her round and dropping her lightly in a standing position. As she let go, Ada simply pressed joyously against her and gave a purring noise.

"Ma'am, if you can understand me, we'd like you to please come out. We are armed, but we're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk."

Cautiously, they moved into the smallish waiting room, furnished only with a small table and chairs. Another door stood ajar nearby – to one of the function rooms if the layout was the same, remembered Ada.

Jill cleared her throat before trying again: "Ma'am, you have my word you won't be hurt. I'm with the police."

"_Was_ with the police" Ada whispered, smiling as Jill shushed her.

"I don't know what's happened to you, but I… we want to help. My name's Jill Valentine and this…"

"Soon to be Jill Valentine Wong" whispered Ada cheekily. She couldn't help it.

"Will you be quiet!" shushed Jill with a peeved smile.

She seemed to think about what she was saying for a second, before turning back: "Hang on, did you just ask me…"

Before Ada could reply, a movement to the right preceded a heavy thump that sent her crashing into the wall. Most of the impact was taken by her shoulder, so she was more shocked than anything. Coming to her senses, she saw Jill and the figure struggling, its ghastly white mask flashing in the dim light.

As she straightened up to join the fight, she saw Jill's gun fly out of her hand. Looking down, she saw she had dropped her own gun also. Pushing a fallen chair out of the way, she moved around the figure and chopped at her neck. Connecting hard, she felt the figure flinch in pain, before her vision was engulfed with a white face coming at her.

Forced up against the wall, she felt surprisingly powerful hands around her throat, squeezing her in a vice like grip. Stunned with the pain, she met the figure's gaze, who seemed to be regarding her with some interest.

"Save her, please" came a thin, wispy voice from behind the mask, before it was pulled away.

Jill had grabbed the woman and swung her off Ada. As Ada slid choking to the floor, the figure lashed out with a back kick, catching Jill in the side, and moved to escape through the far door. A stifled yell caused Ada to look up through tears of pain, massaging her throat. Her head wrenched back briefly, the figure flew through the door as the mask she was wearing came free in Jill's hands, who collapsed back against the table, panting.

Ada forced herself up and stumbled dizzily towards her girl, but was stopped in her tracks by a piercing scream, followed by a shattering of glass from the next room.

Bursting into the room (still a conference room, with its giant table and array of old weapons on the walls), they saw the girl hunched over on the floor, screaming at the top of her voice. All around her, shards of glass coated the floor, where she had smashed the large central mirror of the far wall. Evidently in distress, she was tearing tufts of her hair out in bloody handfuls, and as they gaped in shock at this, grabbed a large piece of glass and lifted it to her face.

"Jill! Be careful!" Ada heard herself shout as Jill bolted forward and snatched the shard away. Blood dripping down its length, staining the girl's white dress red, told that Jill hadn't been in time to prevent her using it.

Moving in, trying to make sure Jill was in no danger, she saw her girl was forcing the girl's hands apart, trying to stop her from inflicting more harm on herself. The girl, whom Ada recognized as being one of those from the photo (although she didn't appear to have aged hardly at all), thrashed and screamed incoherently, seemingly intent on mutilating herself and who knew what else. An awful gash bled freely along her cheek. Not knowing what to do, Ada bent down and tried to control the girl's wild kicking.

"Why… why are you doing this to yourself?" Jill shouted with anguish concern. It was stupid, but Ada couldn't repress a tinge of jealously at this. She tried to dismiss the thought – this certainly was awful. But she just wished Jill would come away before she got hurt. How could they trust someone like this?

"I… what are we going to do?" shouted Ada.

Jill struggled to control the girl, who seemed not to be in any danger of running out of energy or fight anytime soon: "What about the sedative? We have any left?"

Ada reached for her purse, leaning down on the girl's legs to pin them in place. Before she could retrieve the needle however, the girl got a leg free and _CRACK!_ One wild kick later, and Ada was rising groggily off her back from the floor. Something brushed past her – the girl fleeing. But that meant…

"Jill!"

Jill lay groaning on her back, having been blindsided too. She didn't appear to be bleeding, Ada saw with relief. Shuffling round so she could see the door, Ada thought she could hear the sound of the chandeliers again, and the slam of a door. What if she had fled into her old room, she thought with an icy, knotted feeling in her stomach? Wouldn't that just be like life to do something like that?

As she knelt, stroking Jill's hair, and rubbing her head girl's temple soothingly, she reflected this would be a chance to see the room - a chance to face the fear on her own. She had reason to believe the girl may have fled there – she certainly could know something important…

She turned to look out the door and thought of her room. It was like she could feel it – the evil, the sheer delusion and force of will that it must have taken to keep the room desecrated all these years, when anyone could look in there and see it. And she _knew_ it was like that, she just knew it. Could she face it, or would it be too much? A small moan from Jill brought her back to her senses.

She remembered when Leon had saved her when Annette Birkin had tried to kill her. He was shot saving her life, and she'd left him unconscious and bleeding, perhaps fatally for all she'd known at the time. She'd abandoned him without a second thought, because she needed to track someone down. Well that wasn't going to happen this time, not with Jill. She was staying right here with her girl. As for the room, the things it could force her to see about herself and her mother…

'It doesn't matter' she told herself. 'I'm done jumping through your hoops, mother. I'm not here for you; I'm not here to prove something to you or to myself. If Jill was in there, or Liddy or father… _then_ I'd go in without any hesitation. But I won't deny who I am – I can't pretend that helping that girl is a good enough reason for me, not when my girl is hurt. And I don't need to prove you wrong about me either - my love for Jill is nothing I'm ashamed of. As for the rest… it's the past. Dwelling on it or assigning blame won't change anything. We _will_ be free of you; you have no power over us...'

She sat down next to Jill, lifted her up to rest her girl's head against her chest and kissed her. She stirred, and blinked.

"Hi" Ada trilled cheerily.

"Y'okay?" Jill mumbled in a dazed voice (Ada nodded happily). "The girl… got away?" Jill managed, trying to rise before Ada gently restrained her.

Shaking her head, Ada touched her hand softly against her girl's cheek: "Not a chance - I've got my claws into the only girl that matters, and she's not getting away from me."


	11. Chapter 11

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Eleven.**

Missed again!

The shot had flown clear over the advancing monstrosity's shoulder. It had jerked aside at the last minute, but Jill had to admit the shot had never been on to hit anywhere vital anyway. Shaking her head and trying to push it from her thoughts, she quickly cracked rounds off to the thing's torso and upper legs, desperate to keep it at bay. Moving back instinctively, she pressed up into Ada… who also seemed to be trying to back up.

"Doing alright, there?" Jill asked over her shoulder, forcing herself to stay calm. It was a long passage - she'd get it in a second.

"I'm… I'm fine. Just…" Ada uttered a small scream of frustration, but there was a hint of worry there too, Jill thought.

She was finding it extremely hard to resist sneaking a quick look back just to check how Ada was doing. She just to get rid of this…oh, _come on_! Shot after shot after shot, but the thing kept on coming! Actually, this was getting serious now, and she was almost out of ammo…

"It's just… if you do finish up…" Jill tried to sound as calm as possible.

"Er… I was about to say the same thing…" Ada replied with concern.

Worried at her tone, Jill looked round and saw Ada's target bearing down on her. A shot to its leg was slowing it up but still… she had to do something! Ada had also turned and was looking with horror over her shoulder – hers was obviously getting too close for comfort also.

"Why didn't you tell me it was so close!" they shouted at each other almost word for word.

She dropped to her knees and ripped open the bag, rummaging through for the ammo boxes. Ada joined her, and soon everything was being tipped out. Where the hell were they?

"Hey! I saw it fir…" they both shouted as they grabbed at the same clip, lifting it into the air, before Jill spotted the advancing zombie preparing to make a lunge at Ada.

"No you take it, you had it" they said, mirroring each other again as they dropped the clip, found fresh ones and opened fire.

As the sounds of the shots faded, Jill realized they were alright. Her first shot had hit the thing square in the forehead and therefore should have destroyed a vital part of the brain inside. She was almost sure it was dead. What a shot…

She looked round and felt Ada swinging about also, as they looked to see what had become of their initial targets. Hers lay sprawled against the wall, sporting a similar perfectly round hole in its forehead. One shot, one kill also. If only it was this easy all the time, she reflected.

The danger averted, they slumped back against each other and slid to a sitting position back to back. They sat for a moment catching their breath before Ada piped up:

"You need to stop playing hero, baby. What were you thinking; it almost had you. I could have…"

"Me?!" Jill spluttered in a scandalized voice. "Yours wasn't exactly far away was it? If I hadn't taken it out then…"

"No _way_! It was miles away, look!" Ada protested indignantly.

They looked at each other furiously for a moment, before Jill (and she suspected Ada also) realized that when it had come down to it, when the shot had mattered to save each other, they'd both been pretty amazing. Not that either of them were ready to admit that yet, so they snorted in frustration and looked away.

Jill dragged her bag and the empty shotgun over, and began searching for more shells. What on earth she had been thinking leaving this thing unloaded, she didn't know. She wanted to get it loaded up before Ada noticed her mistake. But still, it wasn't all her fault…

"You know… I put all the ammo boxes on top, so we could get at them easily. Any ideas how they managed to reach the bottom… say when you were rooting through earlier?" she enquired with a pestered, petulant but also slightly amused voice.

"I was _hungry_" Ada insisted; her tone defiant, but with a trace of the usual 'gleeful troublemaker' that her girl specialized in. "Besides, I'm sure I put everything back right. You should try being a bit more careful when you walk, so things don't get messed up like that" she finished, leaning her head back on Jill's shoulder to say she was perfectly aware how outrageously cheeky she was being.

"This coming from someone who wriggled all night whilst I was trying to sleep…" Jill retorted, shaking her head happily at Ada's nerve.

"Ohh, don't mention bed - I'm so tired. In fact, you're sitting just nice there. If you don't move…"

Jill looked about at the bodies, as Ada snuggled against her back. Her girl was teasing of course, but it was still remarkable how relatively at ease they were becoming with all this. But a certain amount of remove was necessary – they had a job to do. A few minutes later therefore, after enduring Ada's complaints over being moved and flapping her hands away from where she insisted on picking at her dress, they were on their way again.

It was still so incredible – a real castle. Dimly lit though the place was, the corridors here were still so grand and so wide, giving off such a feeling of age and significance. The corridors and rooms were furnished with immaculately polished tables, towering cabinets and exquisite pedestals, bearing incredibly old and valuable-looking antiques. Jill always felt like she should be walking with her hands in her pockets in places like this, so as not to dirty anything.

It was particularly bad this time though, because she was in her girl's home. Where Ada was slinking along, looking wonderfully sexy and lethal, she was… scruffy. Jeans and shirt, shotgun… why hadn't she just gone the whole hog: pair of shades, guitar strapped across her back, riding with her girl through the halls on a motorbike? It couldn't look any worse…

She couldn't believe she was thinking about things like this now… A more logical train of thought would be to think about that strange masked girl they had seen upstairs, who she was, what was going on… But no, all she could seem to think about was finding a grand piano, so she could show off her classical skills to her girl.

She was brought back down to earth as she ran into Ada who had stopped dead in the corridor. Without even thinking, she had slipped around her girl protectively and was peering ahead, gun in hand.

"What is it? What's there?" she asked, straining to see and trying to bodily shunt Ada back.

Ada circled round her, a maddeningly adorable smile on her lips. "Nothing's there - we're here!" she said, pointing at a curtain hanging over what Jill had assumed was a small alcove – one of dozens bearing old busts and antique clocks and the like.

Seeing her confusion, Ada gently took her arm and reached over to the tasseled pull rope at the side of the curtain. Prodding her softly forward, she then placed it in Jill's hand. Feeling more than a little foolish (like she was opening a new supermarket in fact), she pulled on the cord. She was blushing bright red, she just knew she was… The curtains swished apart, revealing a deeper recess than usual. Instead of a pedestal, the area was clear, save for a doorway blocked by a solid wall of steel.

There was only really room for one person in the alcove so, leaving Ada to watch the corridor, Jill stepped forward, clicking on a pen light and inspecting the door and surrounding area. So this was the panic room then… ah! Crouching down at the side, she found a likely looking carving of some mythic beast. It came off easily in her hands, revealing an electronic keypad and display. So much for never locking the doors, she mused quietly.

"So… what did you find?"

Looking up from the bag, she saw Ada peering curiously at her.

"Hmm, oh I'm just getting my lock picks and tools and things - I always carry them with me. There's a panel there – I'll take it out and see what I can do about getting the door open" she explained, lifting her field toolbox out of the bag.

Ada suddenly crouched down next to her and grabbed the toolbox, pushing it back into the bag. Jill was alarmed and looked up, but was prevented from asking any questions as Ada wrenched the bag away and backed away.

"Hey, _hey_! Adi, what are you doing?! Give that back; this is no time for joking around!"

Ada shook her head and even put the bag behind her back like a kitten caught with its paw in the honey jar. What was going on? Jill advanced slowly, trying to calm her down, but Ada kept inching away.

"No! Maybe we can find the combination somewhere. Let's go back and look in mother's desk. It's probably there somewhere."

Jill was really confused now: "But… baby we agreed. She wouldn't just write it down when she could remember it. If she had, it would have been with the plans for the room, wouldn't it? Besides, searching through all that stuff would take days. We might not have days. Just give me the bag, I'll get us in"

Ada drew back again. "It… it isn't that I don't think you can do it, baby" she wheedled. Jill's stomach twisted and a chilly kind of indignant anger came over her. Surely not… "But… you see all sorts of awful traps and defenses on these things. I've seen people…"

Jill couldn't believe the nerve of it! "Oh, I get it now! I can't believe you, Adi! You go jumping around across chandeliers, give me a heart attack with that rapel gun thing, you refuse to put any kind of tough clothing on for protection… and now you don't approve of me doing something potentially dangerous, just because you can't do it!"

Ada opened her mouth, but Jill didn't want to hear it. She advanced swiftly, trapping her girl bodily against the wall, standing right up to her. Ada squirmed, trying to avoid Jill's gaze, so she reached down and took hold of the bag. Ada was still clinging to it desperately, but after dodging Jill's gaze a few times, she finally dropped her head and let go.

Jill turned and headed back towards the door, but she had to stop at the curtain. She felt almost faint; absolutely disgusted with herself for bullying Adi like that. The tension of being here in this situation, the fear she had felt seeing Ada doing all those stunts, her sense of inadequacy… it was no excuse. She turned around and saw Ada was still sulking against the wall.

"I've handled these kinds of things all my life, Adi. I'm still here, because I'm good at it. I trusted you when you were doing all sorts… Don't I get the same treatment, or is this one of those one-way relationships?"

Far from pacifying Ada, her girl looked extremely hurt and angry at this. She waved in the general direction of the door, before stalking off to patrol the corridor. Jill considered trying to make it up to her, but they really didn't have time to waste on every little thing. Besides, she was still quite annoyed herself at her girl's lack of faith in her.

Forcing herself to concentrate on the panel, she bent down to get started. As she carefully worked her screwdriver and lifted the panel out, she felt her stomach knotting – this arguing wasn't a good feeling, and she was sure Adi felt the same.

She tried to focus on her work, examining the nest of wires and circuits. She started poking about interestedly, feeling the old skills flooding back easily. A quick scan about revealed that this was nothing special – quite easy really. And yet, she could feel Ada's eyes burning into her back as she paced about. Why couldn't her girl just trust her to do this? Satisfied it was safe, a little devil rose inside her…

"Mmm, I don't think it's trapped" she mused quietly, but loud enough so she could be sure Ada could hear her. "Looks like the kind of thing me and Carrie used to work on when I was in Delta Force..." She lowered her voice again to make it seem like she was thinking aloud without realizing it: "Wonder what she's doing, these days?"

Ada's sulky pacing stopped abruptly down the corridor, before starting up again. As she approached, Jill made sure to chuckle as if recalling a warm, pleasant memory, looked up at Ada as if she had been caught out and then returned to her work. Ada stormed off up the corridor – her train of thought so clear, it was practically written on her face.

Jill lent her head against the wall, and bashed it silently against the stone. She could be such a bitch at times: with a shiver, she pictured herself becoming like Charlotte, sour and grasping. That had been cruel and totally uncalled for, she thought to herself. Her girl was just worried about her and, of course, Adi was probably nervous as hell about what they'd find or wouldn't find beyond the door. Shaking her head to free it of the bitchy attitude that had come over her, she finished up and…

_SSSCHISSHH!_

Before she could even stand up properly, Ada pushed heavily past her into the room, without saying a word. Jill grabbed at her arm, as she rose but her girl threw it off angrily.

"Adi, wait! I'm sorry I was such a…"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the keypad display flicker momentarily. Instinctively, she pushed out and shoved a surprised Ada roughly into the panic room and leapt back as the door crashed down again. Ada had been lunging forward as she realized what was going on, and Jill could hear dull bangs from the other side. Then they stopped.

She rushed up. The panel interior was silent, but some kind of power surge or… something had happened. She wasn't keen to put her hand in there again just yet. Why wasn't Ada banging… was someone in there with her? Frantically, she slammed her palms against the metal, calling out in a terrified voice:

"Adi! Adi, can you hear me?! Talk to me, baby! There… there should be a release button or lever or something! Adi, open the door, please! I'm sorry, just tell me you're alright! Adi! ADI!!"

And then the door was open again, causing her to spring back again as it swished up. And there was… she was alright! Moving forward to embrace her, she saw that Ada had turned pale white and she was shaking. She looked at Jill, mouthing words but unable to give voice to any. She looked like she might faint. Jill swiftly darted forward, taking hold of her girl at the waist and arm as gently as she dared. Ada pressed against her, shaking her head in horror.

Lifting her slightly, Jill moved them both forward so they were away from the door. As she did so, she got her first good look at the interior of the panic room. It was actually quite large, and had a kind of sterile, laboratory feel to it, which made sense, given why it was installed in the first place.

Just ahead, beyond a small desk against one wall, large drapes hung about a bed. One of the drapes had a hole in it, and was spattered with dried blood. Looking down, she saw the creamy white flooring was host to several more large bloodstains that had dried quite recently. Although the room continued off to the right, there didn't seem to be anyone there or anywhere to hide. But the bed… there was clearly someone lying in it.

She clung tightly to Ada, trying to calm both her girl and herself. Someone had to investigate that figure… and it would have to be her.

"There… W-what if it's her, Jill? What if she's…"

Jill pushed Ada's head against her chest and shushed her softly. With her leg, she moved the chair next to the desk out. Rubbing some warmth into her and smoothing her hair tenderly, she got her girl sat down. The figure in the bed showed no sign of having heard them. The air was fresher in here, which suggested it wasn't a zombie, but she had to make sure. Kneeling in front of her girl, she took her hands in hers and held them tightly.

"Everything's going to be fine. I'm here, I'll always be here for you; you know that. You just wait here, okay baby girl? I'll take a quick look…I'll be very careful!"

Ada had protested and made to rise, but Jill was having none of it. She kissed her hands, then rising up, gave another to her forehead..

"Don't move, okay?" she whispered. Ada nodded sadly, and bent forward, covering her face with her hands, literally too scared to look. She looked so small and helpless - a world away from the usual cheeky, vibrant girl she had fallen so hopelessly in love with. She couldn't believe how stupid and cruel she'd been to her, just a minute ago - she never wanted to have to see her girl so miserable and frightened as this ever again.

Gripping her gun firmly, she turned back towards the bed. Through the crack in the drapes, she could see the figure – a woman if she had to guess. Keeping in mind the hole in the drape, Jill crept closer – still no movement within. She was right by the drapes now… go! Throwing the drapes back, she plunged forward, pistol at the ready.

A young woman, a girl really, because she couldn't be much more than 16-17 at most, lay silently in the bed. The long black hair streaming over her shoulders, framed a youthful face that definitely had something of Ada in the features. Dressed in a nightgown, tucked in warmly and with spare sheets, a wheelchair and supplies at the bedside, she had the appearance of someone without a care in the world. And yet all was not well obviously – her arms lay too perfectly at her side, and her eyes were open, blankly staring at the ceiling.

Jill lowered her pistol… what was she going to say? How…what was that? The girl was breathing! Yes, her chest was definitely rising and falling. Without considering the danger, Jill bent over and ran her hand over the girl's eyes, clicked her fingers… nothing. But… well it was hard to tell, but Jill was sure there had been a flicker in the eyes…

"Jill?" Ada's voice was cracking.

Turning, she pulled the drapes aside, and saw Ada still sitting and staring straight ahead. She holstered her pistol and moved over to her.

"Who is it? Are they…?" Ada asked on the edge of hysteria, turning and half rising from the chair.

Jill put her finger to Ada's lips and pulled her gently up from the chair. Taking her by the shoulders, she steered her towards the bed. As she saw the figure lying there, her girl gave a sob of recognition and shuddered to a stop, half of her wanting to lunge at the bed, half wanting to press against Jill for comfort.

"She's alive, don't be scared" Jill soothed. There were many questions still to be answered, but at least this was a start.

"But… why… what's wrong with her?" Ada asked in a horrified whisper.

Jill shook her head, but squeezed Ada encouragingly: "I don't know, but she doesn't appear to be hurt at all, and someone's been taking care of her until quite recently from the looks of things."

She gestured at a seat near the bed: "We'll work out what to do in a minute. Just sit down and say hello for now, eh? We came to find her and here she is – alive. That's something isn't it?"

Ada nodded, but was plainly still too scared to move. Jill helped her into the seat and stood by quietly as after a few false starts, Ada took her sister's hand and started to stroke her hair, tears rolling freely down her cheek as she did so. Not sure what to do or say, Jill contented herself with keeping watch on the door.

"Hey there" Ada whispered, trying to wipe her tears away unsuccessfully. "I don't know if you can hear me, but it's Ada, do you remember me?" (The figure didn't move or respond) "I'm your big sister - I left when you were really small; you probably don't remember. You're all grown up now, so beautiful… We're here to save you - you don't have to be scared anymore."

Done! Pacing back into the room, Jill tested the release and was relieved to find it still worked. That would make life much easier. Heading over to where she had left her bag, she stopped to take Ada's hand which she had offered as she passed. Leaning her chin against her girl's head, she held her tight, before checking the spare blanket was still wrapped snugly around her.

"How do you feel?" she asked, clasping her hands round her from behind and rocking her gently.

Ada made to say she was alright, but it choked into a sob and she shook her head in anger and misery. She slammed her fist down on the bed, before running her palm viciously over her face, trying to stop the tears, stubbornly resisting Jill's attempts to pacify her.

"It's not _fair!_ Why did this have to happen? All these years and now this – how could mother do something like this?!"

Jill found it very easy to imagine, given what she knew of her, but she kept quiet on this point. She needed to make sure Ada didn't get any more upset than she already was, especially given what she was going to say in a minute or so. She crouched down next to her girl.

"Adi, Adi please, look at me. It's going to be alright; we'll think of something, okay? Now I need you to think back for me. When you lived here, if someone got sick, who would deal with it? Did you have a live-in nurse or doctor? Did your parents handle it maybe?"

Ada was tired and distracted, but she eventually understood what Jill was asking, and closed her eyes in thought. Jill wished she could just let her girl have a good cry and get it all out, but they needed to get moving soon and moving Lydia like this was going to be next to impossible.

"I… we… my parents were never around much" Ada began, "Mother had her business and Father had parish duties, so most of the time the staff looked after us. The butler Wilfried and his wife Margarethe, they were always very kind to us."

Ada was smiling as she thought of these times. Jill stroked her hands and arms, urging her to go on: "Margarethe was a nurse in the war, so she'd handle all the medicines and stuff if we ever… She used to have a black book that she kept all the dosages and things in. Is… is that what you mean?"

Jill kissed her girl's hands: "That's great, baby. You see, we need to get her out of here, and moving her like this will be hard, even in the wheelchair. Maybe there's some medicine she needs or… well, we at least need to know what's wrong, before we move her."

"But that was years ago – I don't even know if they still work here" Ada protested.

"Yes, but I can't see what else we can do. We have to try and get her walking if we can, or getting to the airfield… it's going to be hard."

Ada slumped back, exhausted and incredulous again at this unfortunate twist of fate. Jill decided it was time to drop the bombshell.

"So… we need that book, or maybe even someone's still alive who can help. Just tell me where their rooms are on the map. I've left some spare sheets on that sofa over there. The room's secure and…"

Ada sprang up "Hey, what are you saying? There's no way you're going by yourself! I… no! Don't bother trying to get around me, there's no way I'd let you do that! If this is about before…"

"Hey, hey, this has nothing to do with that! That was all me; I was being a world class bitch - you have nothing to be sorry about! Look, I know I don't have any moral high ground to stand on here, given what I did to get you to take me along on this trip at all. But we have to be flexible about this – you are tired and you're upset; you're in no state to be fighting anyone. This room is the safest place we are going to find here…"

Ada was pointing at the bullethole and bloodstain in defiance.

Jill smiled and produced a small component from the door mechanism: "I've fixed the door, so only the inside release works. You'll be safe in here; no-one can get in. Plus we know where your sister is now – we don't need someone coming and moving her whilst we're away, and what if she wakes up? One of us needs to stay with her and I'd rather she saw someone she'll feel she can trust."

Ada wasn't ready to give in, which Jill understood all too well. But they had to do this, and slowly she wore her girl down. Having her stay in here, she could be as sure as possible of her girl being safe, and that along with getting all of them out of this place as quickly as possible had to be her number one priority – even though the thought of parting for even a minute was like a knife to the stomach.

She sat her back down and put the blanket back round her, as her girl protested with what little strength she had left. She stroked the girl's hair in farewell also – just knowing she was someone Ada cared about made her feel so close to this young girl… almost maternal. She gathered her things together, leaving some food and ammo for her, just in case.

"Well, I've left some stuff for you. Try and eat something will you, and rest if you can?" Jill requested softly.

Ada looked like she might snap a sharp reply, but instead she nodded and leaned up, plainly wanting a kiss as payment if she was going to let Jill do this. A full minute must have passed and they were still locked in a deep, loving embrace, desperately hoping that some other solution would present itself. But finally, it was time to get going.

"I'll be back before you know it" Jill insisted at the door, fighting back tears of her own. This was so stupid – she wasn't even going that far! Love was such a strange thing…

Ada pressed the release and the door opened. Neither of them could say anything now for fear of bursting into tears. Swallowing hard, Ada simply darted forward pecking a kiss on Jill's cheek. She rubbed it lovingly into the skin then, breaking up, she escaped back into the room before she changed her mind.

Alone in the corridor, Jill readied herself. Just like old times again, she thought. She'd hated it then, now she was without her girl, she hated it all the more. She set off at a jog, eager to get this over with.


	12. Chapter 12

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Twelve.**

'Calm down, Jill, you can do this' she told herself, leaning up against a wall and scanning up and down the darkened passageways. She was sure she'd heard something… There was always the distant moaning and scraping of those poor souls suffering from the T Virus but… she could swear something had been here moments ago.

"Uhhwaaha!!"

Jerking away, she span about; reading her shotgun for… the wall. Smoothing a hand through her hair, she glanced about, more embarrassed than anything. 'At least Adi wasn't here to see that', she thought to herself, 'Get it together!' Staring at the wall, she couldn't help but reach out a hand just to make sure… stone.

But for a second, it had been glass again. She'd been standing in the middle of Raccoon City once more, resting against a shop window. A quiet moment when she'd realized how truly alone she was, how hopeless it was… and in that moment of weakness, one of the creatures had come smashing through from behind, almost killing her.

'But it's not like that now! Adi's waiting, got to keep moving' she told herself angrily. Her girl was counting on her; she didn't have time to be wasting like this. The situation was not hopeless, they were going to escape and they were going to be happy together. She simply wouldn't allow any other outcome.

_She tugged the blanket around her, trying to stop herself from shaking. She resisted the urge to get up and go wait by the door again. She'd be back when she was finished. She could look after herself – she needed to stop worrying and trust her girl. _

_She just wished she'd hurry up. Being here like this made her realize what it would have been like if she'd succeeded in drugging Jill and had come here by herself… She didn't even want to think about it. 'Hurry up' she thought miserably, and drew the blanket even tighter around her. _

_She looked down at Lydia, so calm and peaceful on the bed. She tried to convince herself that her little sister had the better of it lying there, but such thoughts burned in her mind and she felt so ashamed. She took her hand again, fighting back the guilty tears and disgust she felt at herself. _

Kicking out from the wall, she let the shotgun fall back to hang at her strap, and taking out her pistol, crossed the small hall. It seemed empty, although…a small staircase led up to a short landing overhead… no, nothing up there from the looks of things. But she could have sworn she had heard, no, had _felt_ something moving around here.

Taking a last quick sweep about, she darted under the landing, racing up to the door tucked underneath. Bracing a foot against the bottom of the door in case anything tried to barge through it suddenly, she flicked back round to face the hall. All was quiet, nothing trying to drop from overhead and race after her… just silence.

She put her ear to the door… more silence. Without even thinking, she was through and halfway up the next corridor, adrenalin pumping and urging her on in complete focus and concentration. She clicked her belt light on, and glanced at the map, then at the door at the end of the corridor. This was it then, the butler and his wife's private set of rooms.

Checking over her shoulder reflexively, she skipped down the two steps in the corridor and came up to the door. _What was that?!_ The corridor was dark and quiet, the far door still closed, but she… 'Just get on it, whatever happens, you can deal with it. Don't keep Adi waiting!' she yelled at herself in her head.

"Hello? Hello, is anyone in there? My name's Jill Valentine… er… Ich…heisse Jill Valentine…" she called out, knocking at the door with the butt of her pistol.

After about ten seconds of profitless banging and calling, she decided the occupants were either dead or the place was empty. There was no sound coming from behind the door. Here goes then… locked, no, blocked.

Sighing with irritated frustration, she took another quick look around the corridor. The problem with being sure you were being watched was that you always felt this in combat zones. She looked back at the door. It had opened a fraction, which suggested the blockade on the other side wasn't constructed very well. She had to do this right though, right amount of force, not so much she went tumbling into the room.

Taking one last scan about, she quickly put her shoulder to the door and heaved… come on… come on… don't think about behind you, just puushh… okay, go!

Wincing at the awful screeching and scraping of furniture on the other side of the door, Jill dived into the room as soon as it was big and clear enough to slide her body easily through, scanning quickly, pistol at the ready as she did so. Big pile of furniture, room empty, two other doors… corridor!

She snapped about to face the corridor. It was too dark to make out the far door from this distance in the dark, but it seemed clear. 'Good enough' she thought, slamming the door shut and restacking the barricade as quickly as she could. Done! Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to inspect the room more thoroughly.

"_She told me Liddy, she swore to me. She swore she wouldn't hurt you, I made her swear it if I helped her. I didn't know this had happened. I tried to find out how you were but…"_

_Her voice tailed off as she saw her sister's gaze remain fixed at the ceiling. There was no indication she could hear her, but she needed to tell her. There was nowhere to hide from this, for both of them._

"_I held out so long Liddy. I wanted it to be alright, but I just… I couldn't do it anymore. I had to make a choice – I had to let you go. I'm so sorry, all this… she did it because of me. And I knew she'd do it, but I wanted a life of my own, not a thousand fake ones. I didn't want this to happen to you, but I guess in a way maybe I did, so it would be over…"_

_She gripped her sister's hand, clutching and ripping at herself with the other as it quested in vain for Jill's hand. _

Even with most of its furniture pushed up against the door, the room had a comfortable, 'lived in by real people' feel. Looking around at the room's little knick-knacks, photos in frames etc, Jill felt herself relaxing; she felt much more at home in this kind of environment.

Besides the one she came in by, two doors led out of the room. Two sets of curtains on the near wall suggested (and a quick look at the map confirmed), that the door ahead led outside. The door was not barricaded which suggested to Jill that the occupants if they were still alive, had likely exited that way. Still, she'd better check the other one first.

As she crossed over the room stealthily, her attention was caught by some of the photos arranged neatly on shelves along the far wall. She quickly identified the butler Wilfried and his wife (judging by their prominence in all the pictures). In particular she noted some early ones, presumably taken during the war, where a young soldier and nurse smiled happily at the camera.

Depicting a multitude of small family moments, Jill was particularly taken with a few that showed the couple with two girls – Lydia and Ada. Jill's fear evaporated as she picked up one showing Wilfried giving a visibly ecstatic Ada a piggyback ride, as Margarethe cheered them merrily on, cradling the baby Lydia in her arms. She ran her finger down the cheek of the young Ada, realizing again how terribly she missed her.

A quick scan of the next room revealed it to be a bedroom, empty of anything interesting. Checking the linen closet carefully before leaving (once bitten, so to speak…), she turned her attention to the outside door. She could definitely hear faint noises outside, but the wood was too thick for any details. She decided to risk a peek out the windows.

Lifting one of the folds aside carefully, she peered out and saw what looked to be a small herb garden, surrounded by high walls. Great mounds of earth were piled up, next to what looked like open graves. As she watched, a figure (Wilfried, who was alive it seemed from how he was moving), emerged from a modestly sized utility shed. The butler had a large sack in his arms, which was plainly very heavy. In all likelihood, this was a body. And yet instead of dragging it along, he seemed to making every effort to keep the bag steady… his wife perhaps was inside.

Jill waited for him to start filling in the grave before drawing back. This was a delicate situation. Although she would like to believe that the butler was the kindly old man that Ada had described, giving his wife a decent burial… she looked back at the photos. Painful experience had taught her to be mistrustful of everyone these days… and being buried alive or who knew what by a crazed lunatic was not her idea of a successful mission.

She gave it one last check, and decided to err on the side of caution. Stepping over quickly to the door, she tested it… open. Peering round the edge, she watched as Wilfried lay down his shovel and stood for a moment staring off into space, his hands locked together behind his head. Then he was moving back off to the shed. Jill slipped out silently and crept after him, looking around to ensure they were indeed alone.

She came up on the entrance, and caught a flash in the moonlight…

_THUNK!_

Stepping in view of the door, she saw he had an old axe in his hand now. Facing away from her, he was staring down at a body lying on the floor. Jill couldn't make it out properly, but the decaying smell that reached her nostrils suggested whoever it was, was past any hope. He appeared to be hesitating… was he tensing to turn maybe…

"Hold it… er, Halt, bitte" she called out, cocking her pistol so he would know what he was up against (and wincing at her terrible German).

Wilfried froze and nodded slowly. He slowly lowered his arms, but did not let go of the axe. He made to turn around.

"Not yet, please. Oh God, er, nein… er…"

The man's shoulders shook as he gave a small laugh: "I speak English some. Not good you know, but better I think than your German, young lady."

Jill couldn't help but smile at this, but she knew better than to let her guard down. She glanced about, not wishing to be caught out and saw that if she moved slightly nearer the wall, she could watch the shed and garden adequately.

"_You met my girl already. She'll be back in a bit. She's… I love her. I don't know how you feel about things like that, but… well, there it is. I saw her and I just knew she was the one I had to be with."_

_She looked away nervously before continuing: "I can understand if you're angry that it seems I… need her more than you. That's… oh, I wish I could make you understand this. My life has been…very hard, and she understands. But she just makes me happy you know, and I've dreamed of being happy for so long."_

_She choked back a sob of glee mixed with sadness: "I had something that was mine, someone who really cared. I just couldn't let it go, I can't let her go. We're happy, can you understand, Lid? I hope you can…"_

"What… can I do something for you, perhaps?" he asked, as Jill failed to respond.

"I'm looking for Wilfried Helm and his wife Margerethe. Am I right in thinking you are he?" asked Jill, keeping the gun trained on his back.

"I am Wilfried Helm yes, but you seem to have the advantage of me. In more ways than one, I think" he replied. "Perhaps if I were to lower my weapon, you might do the same?" he offered.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'll have to insist that you do that anyway. This situation… you must understand" Jill answered awkwardly. It felt kind of like she was threatening Ada's favorite uncle or something…

Breathing out a long sigh (a sigh that was hard to read, part frustration but also some relief Jill thought), he let the axe fall to the ground with a clang. He then lifted his hands away from his legs so Jill could see there was nothing in them.

"I have… much work to do. If there is something I can help you with, or something you need, then might I ask you to please ask or take what you want, miss…"

"Valentine, Jill Valentine…" Jill answered, before adding "…STARS. Er… Special tactics and Rescue service." Okay, maybe not anymore, but maybe the military connection would open things up here…

"Special… I don't believe I have heard of them. But I don't keep track of such things anymore, and certainly not from your country… American yes?" he asked in a tired but polite tone.

"That's right." This wasn't getting her anywhere – he wasn't going to give her any information until she told him what she wanted. It was practically name, rank and serial number… and she didn't have time to play games. She decided to just ask.

"I'm sorry if this is an awkward subject sir, but I'm looking for your wife. Is she…here?"

His head dipped slightly. "Yes, she is here" he replied in a quiet, beaten voice.

Jill nodded, feeling slightly wretched, but at least she knew. Just get it over with… "I'm very sorry sir, but…"

"What; what must you have, that you come here for her?!" he shouted suddenly. "My margot, she is dead, ja? My friends, my colleagues, they are dead also. I wish to make sure they do not suffer as…" (he gestured around him with tired sorrow) "…they do. So please… just tell to me what it is that you want with us and then _go_."

At this, he strode off towards a sink and started to run the water, washing his hands, heedless of any danger from Jill. Jill moved up carefully, keeping him in sight, but feeling grateful that her girl wasn't here to see her spectacular lack of tact.

"I need your wife's medical notes on a member of this household" she said in as businesslike and firm a tone as she could muster. He seemed beaten and genuinely grief stricken (as anyone would be in these circumstances), but she couldn't take the chance. At this however, he seemed to take a renewed interest, and stopped the tap.

"Why… for who?"

"A miss Lydia Wong - I believe you know her" Jill continued.

He bent down over the sink, head dipped, body shaking slightly. Jill tightened her grip on the pistol… was he going to try something? What if…

"Danke, mein Gott" she heard him whisper, crossing himself as he did so. He looked up, and though it was dark and he was side on to her, Jill imagined she saw a smile of hope on his face.

"Then Miss Valentine, you have my thanks. Please, you must not waste any time here – there is a special room in the Western corridor. One of the recesses, four up from…"

"I know where she is, sir" Jill cut in, relieved but also slightly alarmed at his sudden burst of enthusiasm. "But she is in what looks like a coma and I wondered if your wife would have recorded what she needs, or maybe you can tell me what's wrong with her perhaps?"

He had turned to look at her in the dark near the sink, before turning back: "She… is alone? No-one was with her?" he asked in the quiet voice he had had before.

"Er… yes. Well no… er… not anymore; I left my partner with her. But when we arrived… she was alone, yes" Jill finished awkwardly. She was reluctant to reveal Ada's presence at this time, at least until she knew more. She was shocked back to the moment as Wilfried slammed his palms against the sides of the sink angrily.

"They left her alone?! First they tell such lies about Madame and now… ach, it is too much, too much I say!"

His hands were gripping tightly around the sink it seemed, before he seemed to relax and collapsed into a nearby chair, breathing heavy, raspy breaths.

"I am fine, Miss. I apologize for… this has all been…"

His voice trailed off as he muttered things (apparently unconsciously) to himself in german. Jill's german wasn't fabulous, but she understood quite a bit, even if she couldn't speak it very well. It sounded like he was saying "It all happens again - I fail again."

"Sir?" she tried, conscious of the need to keep his mind focused, in case he became violently unstable or the enormity of the outbreak broke him completely.

"Do you have children, Miss Valentine?" he asked finally.

Jill shifted uneasily – of all the questions! "Er…no, sir. I… we haven't discussed it yet, my partner and me."

He voice seemed faraway now, his face lost in the darkness, his voice tinged with sadness and delight: "We loved them very much, Margot and me. The little ones, Miss Lydia and Miss Ada. We never have children of our own… the war you see? We just could not… the world seemed such a terrible place, we could never bring ourselves…"

He sat leaning against the wall, his voice breaking: "But then Madame came, so beautiful and so blessed. She married the master, and ah, those were such times! Such a devoted couple, and the laughter of the children in the halls… such times we thought we would never see again…"

Jill wasn't sure where this was leading, but she felt sure she was about to hear something that wouldn't agree with her. She opened her mouth to cut him off but he was already continuing.

"And the lies they spoke of Madame… that she do all this… Ridiculous I say! They do not know her… they do not… the happiness in this house. That she could do such things, ach! I had to get out of there, away from their lies. But I should never have left Miss Lydia with such people… now she has no-one…"

"She… doesn't have any family? None of them survived?" Jill asked, though she didn't really want to know the answer.

"Do not think of them, Miss. Take her and go; you cannot help them now. Miss Ada… if only she had lived, that was when things…"

Jill couldn't hear anything after that. Feeling dizzy she slumped against the wall, fighting for breath. 'Pull yourself together!' she shouted at herself mentally. He'd obviously been told a lie, they all had. Ada was alive and waiting for her, she knew that. But still… just the thought, hearing it like that. She had to get her girl out of here, leave and never come back, even if she had to carry Lydia all the way to the airfield herself.

_What was that?! Ada looked up from where she was resting her head on the bed. She jumped up, straining her ears and ran to the door… No wait, it was in here! Cautiously, she moved into the back, spying a large steel box shoved up against one wall. It was large enough to fit a body inside maybe…What was that awful sound…?_

_Ripping the lid open, she leapt back readying her pistol. The air was filled with the squeal of white noise. Crouching down, she moved some old clothing and found a radio… someone was talking on it! She told hold of it and started adjusting it carefully. There!_

"_But Madame, the way is most dangerous. I am barricaded in my rooms. I cannot leave."_

_A man's voice, she didn't recognize it and…mother - she was alive!_

"_I will come to you then, Herr Doctor. Make your preparations – I will bring the girl directly."_

_Ada felt her blood freezing in her veins. Girl…_

'_What girl?!' she screamed in her head. 'Say something, say something! Where are you, what girl?!'_

"_Very well Madame, if you are sure. Please be most careful. Will she be any trouble? I understand their unit was rather famous at one time…"_

"_No, no…" Ada whimpered under her breath. "Please…no."_

"_The STARS are no more. She is merely a citizen now. I have restrained her and I will be there shortly."_

_Ada fell to the ground, speechless with terror. She couldn't… breath. She… she needed to get up. Her girl needed her! She needed to get up! _

"I… the book… the notes" she stammered, desperate to regain her composure.

"I cannot help you, they took her from us you see? Gave her to the care of the Professor and that assistant of hers" he commented in an abstract voice like he could barely hear her. "That… woman, that _evil_ woman. And I say… I try and tell them, but they do not listen. But perhaps I think it is me, and that I did not try hard enough. I could have stood up to them… I could have done something…"

He was making less and less sense now, slipping between german and English, making it hard for Jill to keep up. She wasn't even sure when or to what he was referring now. It was time to go it seemed; Lydia had been put in the care of a professor, and she doubted Wilfried was going to be able to help much anymore. She started to back away slowly.

"Miss Valentine?" he called after her suddenly.

"Yes, sir?"

"It was nice to meet you. I… could I trouble you for a favor, before you go?"

She walked cautiously back over, pistol ready at her side.

"What do you need, Sir?" she asked, stopping in the doorway. The shed was dimly lit with moonlight, but appeared empty. He was still slumped in the corner.

"There is an old luger next to you on the shelf. I realize… well, this should explain…"

He moved in the darkness, at which Jill fell back into a combat posture, bringing her pistol up. Suddenly a light clicked on near the butler and Jill felt herself recoil a step. His skin was blotchy and sickly, turning a horrid yellow in the light. One of his sleeves was soaked through with blood from a deep bite wound, just visible under the fold. He was infected…

His posture and his face displayed a tired familiarity with the horror overtaking him. His face was lined with tears, so much that it seemed he must have cried his whole life. Jill couldn't even imagine what things he had seen and perhaps done in his life. It seemed as if the oncoming monstrosity was not as alien to him as to most. It seemed more like a return after time spent away, a place he wished to finally escape from just as it came back to claim him.

"I cannot seem to move anymore. Perhaps is just as well, I do not think I have stomach for such work anymore…" (He gestured sadly at the body and the axe). "They did not know what they asked, wanting me to believe Madame did this. To serve such… to do so twice… how can they ask me to believe this? Please… please…"

Jill swallowed hard and made up her mind. Whatever he had done or might have been in his past, Ada had loved him as a father or uncle figure. She trusted her girl, she had to trust him. Picking up the Luger, she bent down and slid it across the floor to him, before stepping back quickly just in case.

"Thank you, Miss Valentine. Now go, save our little girl. Take her away from this house of sorrow… never return…"

A scraping sound indicated he had picked up the pistol. Jill backed away and ran for the door, his words ringing in her ears.

"_Take her away… never return."_

She had to get back to her girl, and get her out of here. She should never have left her alone. She reached the door and pulled it open.

A gunshot rang out in the night air, followed by a crash. But no-one was there to hear. Jill was already racing through the corridors, calling out for her girl.

_She stopped, her foot already over the threshold. She looked back at the bed, wondering what she could say. Again she was choosing and again it was no choice. Jill needed her and she was going to leave her own sister here, helpless. What kind of… no, she couldn't think like this. Save Jill, that's all that matters._

_As she turned, a hissing sound filled the room. She fumbled in her purse before realizing it was not the radio. It was Lydia - she was trying to speak! She was still motionless, but the sound was definitely coming from her mouth. She ran over and bent her ear close to her mouth._

_A minute later, she was racing through the halls. The doctor: he must have his rooms downstairs in the new labs they'd seen on the maps. "Hold on Jill, Hold on my baby, I'm coming" she muttered aloud as she ran. She knew her girl would be alright; they were supposed to have this together. And her sister had told her, had given them her blessing…_

"_Go!" she had simply said. _

_This was meant to be…_


	13. Chapter 13

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Thirteen.**

'She's fine – she's safe!' she snapped to herself. These thoughts, far from easing her mind however, only spurred her on faster as she ran up the corridor. She couldn't stop her heart and her mind from racing - she had to be sure! Wilfried had been on his own, had blamed himself for everything that had happened here. She'd told Adi; told her over and over that this wasn't her fault. But what if she still thought it was, and with her being left there alone with her sister like she was…

"Ahhh… open, damn it!"

Heaving the protesting door open, she darted through back into the hall, running on complete autopilot now: 'Just take a right here and then you're nearly…'

She sensed the movement just a little too late. Spinning round, she was abruptly flung at the wall as a bodily mass pushed itself at velocity into the space she was occupying. Reflexively managing to twist so her shoulder and right palm took the impact instead of her face, she was nonetheless momentarily stunned.

'Have to fight! Wake up, don't close your eyes! Have to get back to her…'

Feeling almost out of body, she was little more than an observer as impulses from her brain managed to successfully manipulate her limbs. She watched with impatience, eager to get back control of the steering wheel as her body turned and faced the hall again, arms thrusting out, gun at the ready. Everything was blurry - her body felt more like a suit of armour she was wearing than part of her…

"Who… who's there?!"

Her voice… her voice. She shook her head and with a great effort of will brought her hand up to her face and rubbed some feeling back. Things were coming back into focus… there was no-one here. She was alone. What on earth had just happened? She needed to get out of here quickly.

Remembering the layout of the hall, she moved quickly along the wall, looking up to make sure nothing was on the overhead landing. Something _had_ been there; that must have been where it came from. But it seemed clear now. Scanning carefully around the room, she breathed in and dived round the corner, ready for anything now… nothing.

She crossed to the far wall, looked up and down the corridor… still nothing. Whatever it was had gone for now, it seemed. But what had it been? Better still, what had he she been thinking? That was so stupid: running around like that, especially when she'd known something was lurking about around here… utterly _stupid_.

She thumped her head lightly back against the wall. 'You've got to be more careful, Jill – it's not going to help Adi if you get yourself killed' she nagged herself. Her heart slowing as the adrenalin wore off, she breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever it had been, she was still alive and that was all that mattered for now. Time to get going…

"Run along home, Jill, run along home…"

Jerking up from the wall, she dropped into a crouch, casting about wildly with the gun, ready to fire at the slightest movement. That voice, where had it come from?! A sad, broken… female voice she would say. It wasn't Adi, she was sure of that. But then how did it know her name - that girl from before, perhaps? The voice had just seemed to hang in the air… what was going on?

"Come out! Whoever you are, come out now!" she barked, irritable with fear and anxious curiosity.

'Run along home' it had said. She felt the hairs on her neck standing up, horribly sure that she knew what the voice meant. The hall and corridors were silent however, the voice choosing not to respond to her. She had to make sure… she had to get back now.

Forcing herself up, she strafed as quickly as she dared, back along the corridor, darting looks about, at the floors and ceiling, checking every alcove. Closer and closer she came and still there were no signs of anything, no voices speaking. 'Just a little further - please be alright Adi, please…'

In a daze, she stumbled about the room, even going so far as to lift open the box lid, just in case. All the energy had drained from her and she could hardly find it in her to even stand up. The room felt like a yawning vacuum, sucking all the life and hope from her. Her girl was gone, and she had no idea where she was. The voice had known, which could mean… but it just _couldn't_. She'd _know_ if that had happened, she was sure.

She slumped into a chair next to the bed, burying her face in her hands, trying not to let it overwhelm her. If she cried, she'd be admitting this was really happening and that admission could break her… Lydia's unblinking, cruelly unsympathetic body lay next to her - Jill couldn't even look at her. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help it. She knew what had happened to her girl, she could feel it. And she wasn't speaking, wasn't telling.

"I… I know you know where my Adi is" Jill stated aloud. The fatigue in her voice trembled with a dangerous undercurrent of anger and sorrowful, vengeful energy. Her hands gripped and tore at the bedclothes until they started to whiten from the stress.

She closed her eyes, fighting to get a hold of herself. It wasn't Lydia's fault that she was like this… but she needed to know! She balled up her hands and kneaded her temples, knowing she had to get through this despair, couldn't give in. Her actions had been the only logical course – this wasn't anyone's fault, not hers and certainly not Lydia's. She had needed to go and it wasn't like she had been counting on Lydia to protect Ada in her condition.

'Well maybe if we didn't have to come here for you in the first place!' a voice blurted inside her, but she pushed it down firmly. A dark thought - a spiteful attitude that she could not afford right now. She had to think… there had to be something she could do.

'Nothing has changed', she insisted, forcing herself to breathe. 'Get both of them out of here; make sure both of them are safe'.

She looked over at the prone body of the girl, and felt her anger fading away, as her protective instincts regained their footing. She took Lydia's hand and squeezed it, whilst stroking her hair: "Don't worry, I'll find her. I know we don't know each other but… I need you to trust me - can you do that?"

She smiled encouragingly: "I'm going to have to leave, but I'll come back as soon as I've found her, and then we'll all leave, okay? I'm not going to let anything happen to either of you."

Reluctant to leave her alone like this again, but knowing it had to be done, Jill turned her attention to looking for clues. The ammo and food she had left for Ada was gone and the room had been inaccessible from the outside to all but her, to the best of her knowledge. This suggested that Ada had left the room for some reason of her own. Where would she have gone? Could someone have lured her out…?

"Jill? Are you there, Jill?"

The voice! She looked up at the door to the corridor, which she had left open in her grief. That voice; that person knew something, and they were going to tell! She dived over and kissed Lydia quickly on the forehead, whispering: "I'll be back soon. We _won't_ leave you behind – you have my word."

Grabbing her stuff, she ran to the door and, alert for any signs of danger, entered the corridor. Seeing that it was all clear, she quickly leant over and closed the room up again. Returning to her vigil of the corridor she saw that a figure had appeared some way down from her.

It was a youngish woman from what Jill could make out – the face was covered with another of those strange white masks. She had a rather 'martial nobility' appearance about her, dressed in trousers, shirt and waistcoat fitted over with what seemed to be an antique (and very finely tooled) breastplate. She was standing in a very rigid and formal position, back straight with one hand resting on a long saber which hung at her belt.

"Good evening Miss… Jill, isn't it?" the figure enquired in a faraway voice.

Jill readied herself for action at the slightest provocation, straining to listen for anything trying to sneak up on her – she didn't dare take her eyes off this new arrival until she knew what she was about.

"Who are you? What have you done with my Adi?" she demanded in a stern voice.

The figure turned its head slightly in the direction of the panic room door, before musing softly: "Ah, an empty house is such a sad house. But if soldiers march away to war, leaving their homes unguarded, is it really anyone's fault but their own if something were to happen… Do you not think?"

Incensed by this suggestion and the implication that something had befallen Ada in her absence, Jill brought her pistol up and trained it on the figure. She betrayed no sign of distress, but merely turned to face her properly again.

"I don't have time to play your games. I want my girl back, _now_! I suggest you take me to her" she commanded, fighting heroically to suppress the panic that was threatening to burn through her body.

Something glinted in the air around the figure and Jill was aware of a clanging sound nearby before she even realized she had dodged aside. Aware of the possibility of a grenade, she dived forward onto her stomach, catching sight of an alcove curtain swishing as the figure retreated up the corridor. The curtain and the darkness made a shot impractical, but she couldn't let her get away – she was the only lead she had to finding Ada!

As no explosion had been forthcoming behind her, she struggled up and risked a glance back – the object appeared to be some sort of ornate throwing knife. It must have glanced off her shotgun as she moved, then hit the wall. After another quick check, she lent back and retrieved the knife, stowing it in her bag for now.

"You have something of mine, I have something of yours. I'm waiting, Jill" spoke the voice, again drifting sorrowfully down the corridor.

Jill took a long look at the panic room door, unwilling to leave Lydia alone again. There was no guarantee, after all, that this figure knew anything about Ada or where she was. Thinking about it, she hadn't seemed to know that there was someone else in the panic room besides herself for one thing… But she couldn't take the chance that this would be her only chance to find her girl safe and sound. She set off at a light jog down the corridor.

She didn't have to walk long before she picked up the figure's trail – a white silken glove lay prominently on the floor ahead of her. Nearby, a gentle light emanated from a door that opened into what looked like another small hallway. It hardly needed to be said that this was a trap, but again what was the alternative?

Straining her senses for any sign of the woman, Jill moved up and examined the glove. It seemed unlikely it had been dropped by accident, but why a glove… oh, she got it now. A mental image of an enraged Charlotte slapping her fiercely across the cheek came to mind... She picked the glove up and slapped it lightly against her cheek – she wanted a duel.

Exasperated, Jill hunched back against the wall and opened her bag to look at the mask she had ripped off the other girl earlier. This had to be it… how did this always manage to happen to her? Why couldn't people leave her out of their affairs? Sighing, she shook her head and cleared her throat before calling out:

"Look… please, just… look, we don't have to do this! Just tell me where my girl is and…"

From somewhere relatively close by through the door, music suddenly started playing. Soft strains of classical music floated through the air, muffling her words. Jill cursed silently, but hadn't expected anything to come of her plea anyway really. If she suspected someone of hurting Adi… and now it seemed Wagner was sticking his nose in too. 'Tristan und Isoulde'… passion, forbidden love… no pressure then.

The hallway was much smaller than the one she had crossed through earlier. A short passage led past an open door into what looked like an office for some kind of castle functionary. A candle glowed brightly on a desk within. The passage continued in increasing gloom to another closed door.

The only objects of immediate interest here were several decapitated bodies – zombies from the looks of their skin – lying sprawled across the floor. It appeared that her opponent really did know how to take care of herself. It also told her that these masked women must not have any kind of special power or meaning to the zombies – they were fair game too, it seemed.

The music was drifting in powerful swirls down a narrow flight of stone steps that led up past the office to a set of curtains. That would be the way then, but first… Stepping carefully around the bodies (you never knew, after all), she took hold of some of the larger bits of furniture on offer and as quietly as she could, humped them over to place behind the doors to the hallway. The last thing she needed was an errant zombie creeping (or shambling anyway) up behind her.

This accomplished, there seemed little else for it but to try the stairs. It was an awkward ascent, as the corridor was very narrow here. She had to remove her bag and carry it in front of her whilst making sure her shotgun didn't scrape along the wall either and give her away. Finally she reached the top and (half expecting a blade to come slicing through the folds) she peered through, stealthily.

The room beyond appeared to be a large hall from what little she could make out here. The immediate area beyond the curtain was taken up by a small raised, wooden stage complete with curtains. Presumably it had been used in times past to entertain guests in the hall. Various old tables and items of bric a brac were left decaying here, poking out from under mouldy old sheets.

An old gramophone stood in the center middle, exposed to the room at large. It was from here that the Wagner was playing. The music seeped majestically about the room, sending the soul soaring as it did, causing Jill to feel even more on edge. This was typical Umbrella… couldn't just be easy; it had to be a duel to classical music…

The hall itself must be quite large, she decided from the size of one of the windows - they must be near one of the walls. It was hard to judge from here, but the silvery moonlight streaming in would light the hall quite well, she imagined.

Well anyway, this wasn't getting much achieved and her aching for her girl was growing worse every minute. She needed to get in there and find out what this woman knew. She'd need to be able to move pretty sprightly against a foe like this if recent experience was anything to go by. She decided to leave her bag here, carefully depositing it under a nearby table and dropping a sheet over it. Just her pistol, shotgun, a few spare shells etc…

Checking out any suspicious nooks and crannies without stepping out in view of the hall, she moved forwards. Thankfully the boards didn't seem too bad – no great creaks and squeaks, at least nothing that the music couldn't drown out. The music… should she do something about that? It was masking any noises her opponent might be making, but if she did then she'd give away her presence immediately. Better leave it, she supposed, even if it was giving her the chills.

A small set of two or three steps led down the side of the stage. From here, she could see the hall was indeed very large. A long feasting table stretched away to a head table at the far end (and it seemed likely there would a parallel table also, running along the windowed side of the room). A few archways led…

"Ahhhhh!!"

A soft sound just ahead and her trained survival instincts forced her back just in time as a blade thrust forward from round the stage corner. It struck the wall with a clang, and gave an awful screeching as it was dragged away in an arc and out of view. Jill closed her mouth which was hanging open in shock, ears filled with the sound of her own heart pounding to the Wagnerian tones, before registering that something was wrong… different. Her weight distribution was slightly off…

She looked down and saw her shotgun lying on the floor – the strap had been cut! Before she could move, the strap tautened and was yanked out of view behind the corner. She made to stop it, but checked herself instantly and dived back again, not wishing to become the latest decapitated corpse in the area. She crouched down, pricking her ears for any sound, whilst screaming 'Damn it!' at herself mentally.

There! The sound of something hitting the floor… She dived around the corner, but there was nobody there now. The hall glowed bluish white in the moonlight that poured in from two vast windows and a large glass set of doors leading to a garden area. These doors were standing open, curtains swishing in the wind outside, but Jill had no idea if they had been opened recently or not.

The sound she had heard must have been her shotgun and some of the shells hitting the floor. It had been unloaded and dropped near the gap between the two primary feast tables. It was right there - and was in plain view of the stage… If Jill had to bet on this, she'd say the figure would have jumped up on the stage and was planning to ambush her from there. Time to draw her out then… She straightened up and walked forwards into the room, staring straight ahead. 'Come on, come on… a free strike at an opponent's back…'

Now! Hearing an almost imperceptible creak behind her, she launched herself forward and away, tucking into a forward roll and twisting to face back round and land in a kneeling position. The stage area coming back into view, her pistol was rewarded the sight of the swordswoman. Squeezing the trigger to fire into her waist area, Jill was alarmed at hoe quickly she recovered from being tricked, leaping herself now, behind the end of the first table as Jill's shot flew harmlessly past.

With the wind howling with renewed ferocity and the hall rapidly filling with Wagnerian booms, Jill pushed up and sprang first onto the bench then the table, tracking the figure as it ran. As she clonked up onto the tabletop, sending old vases and the like tumbling, the figure darted out and sprinted, flipped and cleared the next table, vanishing from sight before Jill could get a decent shot. Aware that this was likely to be the case however, Jill was already moving, dropping into the aisle, and leaping up onto the far table. She couldn't afford to lose sight of her!

This proved to be a wise move as the swordswoman found herself out of hall to escape to. She span round to see Jill training her gun at her, before flashing her blade in front of her. Jill dropped back onto the bench behind her, whilst snapping off a shot. However the figure had not thrown something – she had cut something.

With a great whizzing noise from overhead, the figure suddenly flew at great speed past her, up into the air. Almost stunned into inactivity, Jill nevertheless managed to throw herself back as one of the relatively small metal chandeliers crashed mightily into the aisle near her. Flat on her back, she caught sight of a flash of metal overhead, as the woman steadied herself on one of the rafters.

Jill felt flatfooted yet again – she seemed to be surrounded by women who did this kind of thing. 'Well, you're still nothing compared to my Adi' she thought defiantly, rolling over and racing back to the stage. She needed the shotgun… look out!

She ducked as the saber sliced viciously through the air overhead, picking up the shotgun as she did so. She span about, trying to bring her pistol to bear on the figure. A determined thrust sent her reeling backwards, and she barely had time to register the figure twirling about before a sharp pain in her right hand saw the pistol fly out of her grip. Balling up her hand from this punishing kick, she again let instinct take over. The shotgun had no ammo, but it was still effectively a metal pipe…

Swiping with the length of the shotgun, she caught the woman on the side of the head as she recovered from the kick. But before Jill could press the attack, an upward slice against the shotgun had knocked her off balance. She staggered away, stumbling on debris on the floor and collapsed over onto her back, dropping the shotgun. The woman was right on her!

"Aiieeeeahhh!!"

Blood dripped to the stone floor, to the doomy accompaniment of the music from the stage. The woman gasped in pain behind her mask, staring down at the STARS knife sunk deeply into her arm below the wrist. The blood oozed slowly down over the saber, causing it to take on a savage, unwholesome look in the moonlight. Jill moved to get up, not sure what to do next, but with a thought of grabbing the sword perhaps…

As if reading her mind on this, the woman looked up at her fiercely, swapping the sword to her left hand and cutting the air in front of her with impressive strokes. 'Ambidextrous? That's just wonderful…' thought Jill wearily to herself. The woman did not advance, but moved to take hold of the knife hilt.

"No, it's best to leave it" offered Jill, but the woman ignored her, ripping it free with a gout of blood, again uttering a slight scream of pain. She readied a handkerchief to tie around the wound, and gestured with her saber behind Jill. Jill backed up a pace, before cautiously turning side on to see where she was pointing. A suit of very old and tarnished armour stood against the wall, sporting a sizeable broadsword.

Jill felt her shoulders drop with exhaustion: "Oh… look, isn't there another way? Please, I don't know what you think but…" She was cut off (almost literally) as the woman stabbed her blade insistently at the armour and sword. This was still a very dangerous situation… Jill raised her hands in compliance and crossed over to stand by the armour, as the woman bound her wound.

This wasn't going to work, Jill decided, placing her hand on the hilt of the sword. Explosives, guns, knives, unarmed combat – not a problem. Sword-fighting, fencing, all that business however… the phrase 'all thumbs' sprang to mind. She needed another way, and she perhaps had one…

She took up the sword, hefting it out. The woman straightened and advanced. Jill didn't move, but adopted what she hoped looked like a ready stance with the sword. She moved slightly away and waited for her opponent to close. 'Just a little closer…'When she was satisfied, she leaned slightly as if to wind up a stroke. Her opponent made to lunge.

At the last moment she dropped into a leg sweep, catching the woman as she thrust, knocking her off balance. Jill leapt up against the armour and pushed the sword behind it. Heaving, she levered the armour forward and it fell clattering all around the woman who threw her hands over her head for protection. Taking the opening, Jill kicked out and sent her flying over backwards.

Reaching down, she scooped up one of the gauntlets that had become detached from the armour and slipped it on. Diving forward she drove a punishing blow into the woman's ribs as she scrabbled for her sword on the floor. As she called out in agony, Jill moved round and swung a decisive punch at her head. Her opponent was sent crashing to the floor, where her mask cracked sharply against the flagstones to a triumphal chorus from the stage.

"Now…" Jill gasped, out of breath from all the heavy exertion, "You are _going_ to tell me what you did with my Adi or I'm going to…" She flipped her over, sat on her chest and lifted her hand to threaten a deadly punch, but the sight that greeted her gave her pause.

The woman's mask was streaked with blood and part of it had smashed around one of the eyes. A bloodshot eye, glistening with tears lay therein, surrounded with white, scarred tissue, as of healed over burns or deep scars perhaps. Arms at her sides, she was not even trying to defend herself now. Jill felt slightly ashamed of herself despite knowing she had only been defending herself.

"Is… is she dead? Did you kill her… my angel?"

It took Jill a moment to realize she wasn't the one speaking – it was the masked woman! She sounded so beaten and dejected… much like Jill would be if she thought Adi was… she didn't even want to think about it.

"Please… just, just tell me. If my angel girl is dead, I will not resist anymore. Nothing will matter… please just tell me…" she pleaded.

Unwrapping the mask from the shirt they had been keeping it in, Jill looked round. The woman was still sitting quietly at the table. Jill walked over and sat down straddling the bench and offered her the mask. She reached out with an air of wonder and took it so tenderly from her, lifting it down onto the table and smoothing her finger along its edges, gulping back tears.

"She attacked us, but we tried not to hurt her – it was obvious she was just scared" Jill commented after a respectful silence. "We didn't know – we don't know what's going on here, but I think you'll want to get this back to her as soon as possible, yes?"

The woman turned to look her, nodding furiously: "I… Thank you so much. For not hurting my Tanja I mean, and well… this. If she does not have her mask, she will avoid anywhere with a mirror… downstairs or outside perhaps. I must find her."

She sounded far away again, but more hopeful at least now. Jill smiled and offered her hand: "Well then…?"

"Katherine" the woman replied, apparently only just remembering Jill was here. She seemed so transformed from the steely, haunted character of before. It was a transformation she recognised - the mask was doing for Katherine what Ada did for her.

"Katherine. I have to get going now. I hope you find her, okay?"

So saying, she got up and collected her things. Katherine sat cleaning the mask slowly and with great loving care. As Jill finally turned to leave, she heard Katherine turn to face her:

"You have not asked me about your girl."

Jill didn't turn around: "I don't need you to. I know she's alright – I'd know if she was… and she isn't. I'm going to find her - it's as simple as that." ('And when I do find her, I'm going to fit her with one of those collars with the little bell that kittens are given, so their owners know where they are and can keep them out of mischief' Jill thought to herself with defiant optimism.) "If you do know anything, then please… I think you of all people can understand what I'm going through…"

She looked round and saw Katherine was clutching the mask tightly to her, like she was cradling her girl in her arms: "I can tell you that whatever happened, she thought she was helping you. I saw her emerge from the panic room, call your name in a state of panic, before setting off towards the labs and apartments below ground."

Jill nodded and thanked her, before leaving her alone to rest. She mused over this new information and at length, simply shrugged her shoulders. This had always been on the cards – you could never sneak in and out where Umbrella were concerned. She should have known that this was inevitable. But unlike Tristan and Isoulde, Jill and Ada's epic would end with the words 'Happily ever after'. It was the only way she would allow…


	14. Chapter 14

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Fourteen.**

'As above, so below' went the old saying. Ada snorted bitterly as she reflected on how apt that statement was here. Like the one upstairs, this door was unremarkable to the casual observer. With its heavy old wood and banded metal, it was strong and impressive in its own way, but hardly anything unique. But equally like the other, it seemed to throb with an icy, cruel significance.

As she stood steeling herself to press on, she thought again of the door upstairs. Even through the stones of the castle, she could almost hear it, _feel_ it pressing up and squirming against the wood. Terrible cruelty and hatred, poisonous memories that seeped and splashed over the world, infecting places like this with horror and misery.

And yet, from this side, it actually exerted little influence at all. This was not the side of the door that she particularly remembered, after all. Before her ordeal, that week long period of isolation and starvation, she had barely even visited this place. Tucked away in an obscure area of the castle, there had been no prohibition on entering. Its remoteness had served well enough for that.

It seemed that this oversight on her mother's part had extended to the roaming monstrosities also. The door had clearly been smashed open, from the dents and scratch marks in the wood. It had fallen back to in the frame, just a crack of the room beyond showing, and that only showing utter darkness.

It was fitting – it didn't seem right that the room should ever be fully lit now, Ada thought to herself. This was where it had started after all: where the wicked child had been cast into the depths, thrown into the darkness and told – no, _commanded_ - to suffer endlessly. And suffer she had… Left alone for so long, she had started to believe she was that wretched creature that her mother saw - something unworthy of love or pity.

But not anymore. She had to stop thinking like this – Jill would be cross with her.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and pushed the door, flinching slightly as her hand touched the battered wood, as if afraid it might pass its disease to her. Nevertheless, the door opened surprisingly fluidly and quietly. No tortuous creaks or cracks, no squeals from the hinges. It simply glided open, revealing the short landing and set of stone steps that descended into the cellar proper.

She froze a few steps in, paralysed with the memories that came flooding back. Unconsciously, she turned and taking hold of the door, swung it part of the way back. The absence of light meant she couldn't see the reverse side of the door, but running her hand across it, she remembered every dint and knot. She had spent that whole week here after all, sitting by the unlocked door, too scared to defy her mother and leave, too frightened of the dark, unknown cellar to venture further in.

Pacing forward slowly, she peered down into the blackness. Her eyes hadn't adjusted yet, but she could make out faint outlines down there. It was more than she remembered seeing last time, but then she'd only crept to the top of the stairs a few times back then. Still, it seemed that some light was coming in from somewhere down there. It was so strange to see… whatever it was down there. She'd always pictured it as a mass of nothingness in her mind, that the stairs hadn't actually led anywhere.

She lent on the rail and peered over trying to make out any details without success. Perhaps she'd blotted the room out of her mind on purpose? Cover over her mother's deeds or something like that? So going down now would be to plunge in and see the things she'd always feared to know about someone she… oh she didn't even know what she felt to her anymore. The only thing that mattered was…

"You have something that belongs to me. That's the only reason I'm here, and you _will_ give her back!"

She'd blurted it out suddenly, insolently disrupting the silence of the cellar. Without waiting for any kind of response (or taking time to think herself), she grabbed the rail in front of her and hopped over, falling into the room below.

She landed in a crouch, pistol out and straining to hear any sound. Immersed in the darkness that had defeated her as a child, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest; her hands coated in a cold sweat. She felt as if something would leap out of her at any moment, from the shadows, from the past.

But then she felt herself grin broadly. That had been a pretty stupid and reckless move after all – announcing her presence like that and 'leaping before she looked'. She could just imagine what her girl would have said if she'd seen her. She'd be frowning and scolding her right now - but she'd have been impressed too.

Delighted by this thought, she stood up and cast about, determined to keep moving and keep thoughts of her girl in her mind, to calm her down. There didn't appear to be anything in the immediate vicinity, beyond what seemed to be… old wine racks maybe? The light source she had detected earlier seemed to be coming from where the room bent round to the left, past the stairs. Cautiously, she tip-toed forward, feeling her tension slip away as she looked at the light.

Peeking round the side of the stairs, she ducked back in alarm as a shaft of soft bluish-white light played over her. Chiding herself for being so jumpy, she looked back out and saw that the shaft was coming from behind another door. Near the door, the cellar shone with an eerie pale light, ghostly shadows rearing from assorted bric a brac stacked here and there. And yet… it was like the light was creeping quietly into the room too, an uninvited stranger like herself.

Growing impatient and mouthing entreaties under her breath for her girl to hold on wherever she was, she scurried closer to get a better look. There was quite a bit of wooden debris on the floor here, apparently newly smashed up. It looked as if a sizeable number of zombies had passed by here, shambling through pretty much anything that got in their way. The door would usually have been obscured by these racks, she guessed.

Stepping carefully over to the door, she discovered that an old roll of heavy cloth (it had probably been resting on one of the racks), had fallen and snagged itself over the doorway. Draped awkwardly across the doorway, it had until now masked the fact that the door was in fact open all the way. Another keypad was set into the wall nearby, but with the door already open, Ada didn't want to mess around with it. She contented herself with checking the corridor beyond.

Stepping into the corridor, she was struck immediately at how peaceful it felt here. The light emanating from softly humming bulbs overhead, filled the area with a pale, yet comforting glow. It was like a weakened but still determined attempt to make her feel welcome. Realizing she was simply staring at the lights, Ada tore her gaze away and surveyed the area.

The corridor stretched away, with various side passages branching off and doors set at intervals down its length. The place had a laboratory/administration kind of feel. There were the usual bland pictures of landscapes and 'inspirational' quotes set in frames that you often found in such places to make them feel more human. But it was the light that made this place feel so warm… like it was a presence of its own; that it could actually tell she was here and looking for someone dear to her.

A few minutes of swift checking confirmed that this seemed to be some sort of admin wing - offices and storerooms. It was possible something here might be useful, but where to start looking? As none of the doors or desks had names on them, she assumed the doctor she was looking for couldn't be based here. Better to try elsewhere first. But _where_?

As she paced irritably back into the corridor, she saw a sudden flicker of shadow on the wall. She looked up and saw the light overhead was flickering gently. As she watched, a change in the general area made her look down the corridor. Some of the lights in the side passages had failed. She looked back at the light. It had stopped flickering, but burned quietly as in… anticipation perhaps?

This was crazy… wasn't it? It must just be lighting failure – it wasn't unreasonable to assume that the rampaging zombies had destroyed something vital after all. But… well she had to start somewhere, so why not? Feeling as if she was being led by the hand, she hurried off down the corridor and started following the trail of still functional lights.

Working her way through a number of passages (mother had built quite an extensive operation here, it seemed), she finally came to a fairly wide corridor. Of immediate interest was a door along the right hand side. For one thing, it bore a brass nameplate with the legend: Professor J M GOLD.

Professor, not doctor… still, better than nothing. The other point of interest was a sizeable hole some way up the door. Marks in the wall opposite suggested a gun of some sort had been fired. A shotgun perhaps – Jill! Rushing over to the door, the light suddenly flickered furiously. Was it a warning or… In the second before it happened, Ada was reminded of an old faerie tale about the Will 'o' the Wisp…

She snapped back to consciousness as she slammed into the wood of the door. The shock and pain had knocked her senseless briefly, but the impact seemed to bring her to. The hand throttling her felt cold and clammy, the pained moaning beyond the door filled her ears. Frantically she clawed at the hand, trying to free herself. Her gun, had to…

The door abruptly flew open under her weight, as the zombie had stepped back away from it. Pushing hard, she slammed the door against it and felt the hand come free. Choking for breath, she ducked forward under the lunge of another that was directly in front of her. Trapped in the room now, she backed away. She barely had time to register there was just the two of them and take in the outline of the office, before the door slammed shut as the first zombie surged forward again. The room was plunged into darkness, and in her alarm Ada stumbled over and landed on the floor.

Hearing the moans of the creatures as they moved awkwardly past each other, Ada felt herself freezing up in terror. Her heart was racing… she couldn't see anything… There were two of them and she couldn't try for kill shots: what was she going to do?! Her girl needed her – she couldn't die here!

Scrambling back on her hands and rear, she came up against something lying on the floor. Reaching back, her heart leapt as she felt the cold flesh of another body. The gun! Maybe this person had… yes! Scrabbling about, she found a strap. Pulling it, found that whatever it was, it was trapped under the body. They were almost on here, no time to worry about this one, come on…

"Come on!!" she yelled, heaving the body up and yanking on the strap.

"No!" She dived away as she sensed one of the creatures launching itself down. Crashing into the chair behind the desk, she pushed up from it and flipped about bringing the gun up. She squeezed the trigger.

The room was lit with a fiery red-yellow glow, like it had suddenly caught on fire. The cries and moans of the creatures before her was submerged at last in the roaring of the SMG as it poured shots into them and anything else in the area. Panicked beyond rational thought, Ada simply sprayed the area until finally darkness swept back across the room, and the only sound was her terrified breathing.

'You have to move!' she heard herself urging. 'Stop being so selfish – you think you're scared? What about Jill – she's on her own waiting for you! Get moving!' Nodding, she backed away a step from the area where the bodies must have fallen, before clambering over the desk. As her feet touched the floor, she heard it… one of them was still alive!

"Uhh unnnhhh uwahhh!!"

She collapsed out of the room, sobbing with anger and pushed up against the far wall. Not stopping to think, she hefted up the object in her hands and after a few unsuccessful attempts, heard the splintering of glass and electric buzz. The corridor darkened instantly as the bulb smashed. But Ada didn't care; she was already rushing through the corridors wildly.

"Jill! Jill, can you hear me, baby?! Where are you?! I'm here; call out and I'll come get you, where _are_ you?!"

Under a badly damaged light, she sank to the floor in despair. Down a corridor to the right, a group of zombies were bent over a body, tearing into it with bloody gnaws and ripping bites, heedless of her presence. She couldn't move… what if it was Jill? What if she was one of them?

"Where are you?" she whimpered feebly, curling into a ball. Looking down she saw she was still dragging about the bloodied case she had grabbed in the office. It was badly buckled at the corner where she had smashed that zombies' head in, but maybe… maybe the light _had_ led her where she had needed to go.

Ignoring the hideous scene taking place nearby, she unbuckled the case and opened it up. Papers, medical files… nothing! No handy notes saying 'Jill is here', no maps, no nothing. About to throw the bag away in frustration, she tried one last compartment and found a small case containing two medicine bottles. She didn't know what they were, and the labels were no help.

As she looked down at them, a splash landed on the label. Tears of utter despair were flowing down her cheeks. This had been her last chance… and this was all she got. Throwing herself back against the wall, she made to throw the bottles, perhaps at the zombies. She wasn't even sure she'd bother fighting them at this point. But then she saw something strange.

At the far end of the corridor, through a wide double doorway, she could see what seemed to be a spacious living area, quite different from all the admin and medical places she had seen so far.

'If this doctor's someone important, then he'd probably have rooms in that area' she told herself, willing her legs to move. She had to keep going; she couldn't just give up on her girl. Absently minded, she put the bottles into her purse and moved off at a jog towards the doorway.

An urge to call for her girl was stifled in her throat as she came upon a trail of blood on the ground, leading into the room. Stepping in, she blinked at the light coming from a crystal chandelier overhead. A huge room that stretched away before her. Through a large arch at the back, she could hear rushing water – some sort of swimming baths/water garden affair from the looks of it.

This main room was sumptuously furnished with sofas, tables, bookcases and the like. Dark varnished wood surfaces, crystal glasses, an ornate brasswork sculpture of some Hellenic goddess… all glimmering elegantly, heedless of the monstrosity going on all around them. As the carpeting was deep red, the blood trail would have harder to spot, but it too was glinting, as if even death was something that could be polished up and made presentable in this room.

It wasn't hard to find the source anyway. One of the masked girls lay face down here, her torso area a mess of bloody rips and tears. Ada turned away and sat at one of the chairs, sickened and ashamed of the jealousy she had felt towards them earlier. It did seem at least though, that they had led a good life here up to now. She looked up at the statues of the goddess. Until she'd refused… no; it wasn't her fault.

"Isn't it?" she could almost hear the statue say with her mother's condemnatory voice.

"No, I had to do this" she thought defiantly. "You had no right to treat me like that, make me do those things. Jill…"

"Ah yes, Jill. Such devotion between two people… To accompany you into this; to agree to kidnap a daughter from her mother…"

"It's not kidnapping! You don't care about Lydia or me – you never did!"

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the statue. It was like it _was_ her mother now, here in the room with her. The proud, noble, classic features, the weaponry that told of her great strength… a formidable adversary. Why had she brought her girl here to this danger?

"She must be a very special person" the statue seemed to say as the light lit up its features just so. "How fortunate you should meet someone like that. That level of trust and love is forged over many long years. How long have you known her again?"

A few days… well, she'd known of her for longer than that but they'd only actually… but it seemed so much longer than that, like they'd always known each other.

"That is not how the world works, my girl. Can you really believe this? You needed an excuse to face me and you concoct this ridiculous story. Always too much imagination in you, I said."

"I… I didn't imagine her! We're…" It was so hard to believe, but it was true! She had to remember that.

"Soulmates?" the statue snorted. "Nonsense: the stuff of foolish romantic fantasy. Is it at all likely that someone you met just days before, who would know of the things you've done, could love you so completely? Where is she then – this wonderful exception to the world? Show me this love that defeats all!"

Could it… possibly be? No, she… she had to be real. It couldn't just something she imagined… could it? But the shortness of time, the way she always surprised her with how much she cared. It _was_ the kind of stuff you didn't see in real life…

"She just needed someone to blame, because of what she'd done to those girls."

Jill's words came back to her; the words of her girl explaining her mother's cruelty. Had she just needed someone to tell her everything was alright; someone to tell her that her mother had had her reasons for what she'd done? She was everything she'd ever wanted, too good to be true…

The statue glowed so brightly, it was hard to look now. As the light filled her eyes, she wondered what the truth really was. She was here alone, could she be sure? Wait… no! Her girl was real; she had to be! And she could prove it! She fumbled in her purse and took out her phone. Message waiting from… Deb! She cried with laughter and read it aloud:

"Found this while I was cleaning up… always surprises me how big these things are! Ask Jill where she got it, will you?! Everything going alright, I hope? Call us if need anything. Love D."

'You've given me all I need, Debs. You've given me my girl back!' Ada thought joyfully, standing up in triumph. The statue appeared duller now, glowed less brightly in the light.

"I'm taking my Jill and Lydia out of this place. And that's all I care about" she stated simply. The statue looked like it was screaming.

Turning around, she abruptly came face to mask with the girl. Ada mouth dropped open in surprise, but no sound issued forth. The mask slipped from the girl's face showing the decaying features of a zombie. The girl's face looked so full of sorrow and pain… Ada could almost hear the statue again…

"Kill!" it urged.


	15. Chapter 15

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Author's note: A shortish chapter this one, but I felt that the reader needed a bit of a breather, before going into another action sequence. Hence I split it into another chapter. Placing it separately gives me the option of adding in some 'also occurring about this time' elements later also. But I'm trying to stick to the main story with Jill and Ada for now. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Fifteen.**

Move! Pre-empting the girl's inevitable lunge, Ada threw herself into a strong back-flip to put some distance between them. As the world righted itself, she whipped out her pistol in a crouched position, whilst simultaneously pulling over a small table that was standing near where she had landed. It collapsed over; a large glass decanter that had been resting on it, sent smashing into dozens of deadly sharp shards on the floor. But as moved to train her sights on the girl, she hesitated at what she saw.

The girl hadn't moved an inch - she was just standing there. Her velvety grey dress was hanging from her in torn and ragged strips, showing glimpses of the horrific, ugly wounds that covered her body. The chestnut hair falling about her shoulders was a darkened mess, straggled and matted with drying blood. And her face, all streaked with filth, the flesh cracking and rotting away…

Ada caught a flash of the photo from earlier, remembering a girl who had been crying with shy laughter, surrounded by people who loved her. With her shoulders slumped, limbs hanging and swaying listlessly, she looked the most miserable, abandoned and betrayed creature in existence. She had to do it - it was a kindness really…

Ada looked down – her hands were trembling violently. She just couldn't get that image of the girls out of her head. They'd suffered so much… she had to do this! As she tried to summon up the courage, the girl stirred, looking up at her through bloodshot, dying eyes. Ada was sure there was something still at work inside this girl. She could feel; she could sense, that she wanted this - that she wanted an end to it.

But even knowing this… she couldn't make herself pull the trigger. Rising to her feet, she started to back away, resisting the urge to look at the statue. 'It's not real, she not here. Don't let her goad you' she told herself. 'Just run'. But as she moved to flee this terrible scene, the girl uttered an awful screeching cry of pain. Thrusting her arms out as if imploring Ada, desperate to restrain her, it moved forwards.

"I… I can't! I'm sorry, I… no, don't!" Ada called frantically, as the girl advanced towards her. Her pursuit had taken her to the broken glass, which she now trampled across, the shards burying themselves sickeningly into her exposed feet, ripping and slicing the flesh as she moved. The girl appeared to notice, as she gave a gurgling whimper and her head dropped briefly, before she continued, leaving an awful trail of congealing blood in her wake.

It was too much: feeling like she might be sick at any moment at the indignity forced on this poor girl, Ada turned and ran. Behind her, she could hear the desperate, wailing call of the girl, but she had to get away. Fixating on the archway as the most obvious exit, she sped across the room, biting back her tears and disgust with herself. A year ago, six months even, she'd have pulled the trigger and barely given it another thought. But she couldn't do that now - that wasn't who she wanted to be anymore.

Reaching the archway, she looked in on the equally spacious room beyond. As she'd observed before, it seemed to be a kind of indoor water garden. The room was filled with large pools, punctuated with small 'islands' connected by elaborately carved bridges and causeways. Water gushed in great torrents into some of the larger pools, and the air was filled with a watery mist.

Great floral displays decorated most of the islands, their colors contrasting wonderfully with the shining white surfaces that covered most of the room. Overhead, a glass dome filtered what Ada imagined was probably some kind of artificial light into the room, causing the place to glow serenely. It was beautiful.

Feeling herself start to relax despite the situation, Ada shook her head and glanced back with a renewed shudder. She couldn't let herself get hypnotized like this; she had to move. The danger was soon confirmed however, as upon moving forwards to the first island, she spotted another figure sitting at a bench on one of the nearby islands. Freezing in place, she willed the figure not to be one of them, but she knew there was little hope of that.

And sure enough, apparently hearing her approach, the figure jerked up, bracing itself momentarily against the railing before swinging to face her. Ada felt her heart sinking as she recognized another of the girls, this one dressed in more rugged, 'work' clothes – evidently she had been one of the people who tended this area. She was struck again with very unfamiliar feelings of pity and anger over what had happened to these girls.

'More important than that, how are you going to get out of here?' This was a much more familiar voice inside herself, although it was finding it had to struggle to be heard nowadays. But she did need to escape… how could she do this? The room was so densely packed with greenery, it was hard to see far ahead. The zombied girls were closing in; surrounding her, so whatever she was going to do, she had to do it now.

She looked frantically over the rail at the pools, but shied away… cats and water wasn't a good combination - that sewer alligator had been the final straw. Maybe… maybe she _would_ have to, after all… She looked down at her pistol, then back at the girls… No, she just _couldn't. _But they were getting closer… oh come on, there _had_ to be another… ah!

Looking up in desperation, she took in the upper tier of the room properly for the first time. A balcony ran around it, just like in the entrance hall. She wasn't sure you were actually intended to walk on that level – there might not be any exits up there. Still, it was the only route available. Holstering her pistol, she quickly produced her rapel gun and took aim at the overhead balcony. The hook flew up with that thrilling whizzing noise, as she stepped up onto the railing. What…?

She had felt something was there, something right by her. Under usual circumstances, she would have just released the trigger and swept out of danger. But that Ada was gone; the girl who could glide through life with a devil may care attitude. She had so much to lose now – she had _had_ to look.

Erupting from the foliage like the plants themselves were rising up, she didn't even have time to scream. As it grasped hold of her, some part of her regrouped just long enough to take the only action open - she released the trigger…

Moments later, she cried out as pain shot jarringly down her right arm. In this instant of pain assisted clarity, she realized that they had come to a stop dangling in mid-air. The zombie tore and clutched with mindless frenzy at her, trying to find a way past her free hand that she was desperately using to try and shake it off.

Her world descended into the jaws and unnatural fury directed at her, coupled with the searing pain in her arm and shoulder. She had to… she was going to…

"Get… off of me!!"

A sudden squeal followed a loud _SNAP_! sounded out and suddenly they were falling to earth. With an almighty _CRACK!_, Ada landed on hard ground, knocked onto her back with the force of the impact. Looking up groggily, she saw the zombie had landed back first on the railing, likely breaking its spine as it did so. It lurched about spasmodically, trying to right itself. Her arm… don't think about it…

Springing up, she snatched up the rapel gun from the floor: its cable now hanging loosely from the barrel, its internal mechanism smashed. Hurriedly she gripped onto the cable, and launched herself up at the nearby wall. Gritting her teeth to bite back the fire in her shoulder, she kicked off, using the added momentum to assist her as she swung straight at the zombie. Throwing her legs out, she caught the monster straight in the upper torso just under the neck. With a strangled cry, it tipped up and over the railing, falling into the water below with a splash.

Landing her feet on the railing, she clung against the cable, tears of pain streaming down her cheek. Her shoulder was _really_ hurting now; she needed to rest it. And yet there seemed no other means of escape. Fresh zombies stumbled towards her seemingly from all directions; the masked girls foremost amongst them. With no regard for themselves, they plunged into the water, making straight for her.

She had to get out of here. Bracing herself, she pushed up and started to climb the cable to the upper balcony. She had barely taken one agonizing pull however, before she felt a sharp tug at her leg, causing her to almost pass out as pain tore through her right hand side. Somehow she managed to keep hold of the cable, as one of the creatures ferociously pulled at her, trying to drag her down. She could barely hang on as it was; she didn't dare reach for her gun…

And then she was free. The grip suddenly released, she swarmed faster than she'd believed possible right up the length of the cable, not even paying any heed to the pain shooting through her. All she could see was the top, the balcony, freedom. Collapsing over the rail however, she rolled around on her back, yelping with pain as the adrenalin burst wore off. Forcing her head up, she checked nothing was up here… nothing. She was safe… but how?

Slowly, she dragged herself over to the railing and peered through. In the pool below, the zombie girls were finishing the brutal task of ripping her attacker, almost completely apart. As Ada watched in awe, their fury seemed to abate, until they were alone in the murky waters. Together, they stared about as if lost now. They had done their part; they were waiting for their reward.

The pistol shook in her hand as she fought through the pain to take aim. She thought of Annette Birkin falling from another such railing to her death (or so she had thought); of how she hadn't cared at all when it had happened… Thinking again of how happy, how innocent the girls had looked in the photograph, she reflected again that she really hadn't deserved to be so saved. This was the least she could do…

"I'm so sorry; sleep now" she whispered, as she pulled the trigger.

For a while, all she could do was sit there, leaning against the railings, shivering and watching as the girls sank peacefully beneath the water. That could have been her, drowning in a pool of her own blood, shot down by a corporate assassin, the police, a vengeful family member… released only in death.

But for some reason, that wasn't how it was supposed to be now. She had a wonderful girl, who had seen the feeble creature she had been and who had wanted to take care of her. And whether it was selfish, whether she deserved it or not, whether it was _right_ or not… she _had_ to have her back.

"I'm not giving up – I'm coming to get you, Jill!" she spoke aloud with determination. "So just hold on 'til I get there… it's going to work out, I just _know_ it."

As she gave voice to this resolve, the lights overhead faded, until the room below was lit only by the light of the far room, bouncing on the water. Up here on the balcony, a small lamp, unnoticeable in the full light, burned soundlessly next to the entrance to a ventilation shaft.

Ada nodded and made ready to continue. Rubbing feeling back into her aching muscles and after severing and raveling up part of the rapel cord to take with her, she lifted herself up and walked over to the vent. Maybe it was crazy to believe in this as some sort of… what, divine help? Especially after last time, as well… But it was pointless to question it now. Her and Jill were meant to be and _something_ seemed to agree with that. Her girl _was_ waiting beyond that vent, she was sure. There _was_ hope.


	16. Chapter 16

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Sixteen.**

It was no good – she had to take another rest. Sighing irritably, Ada slumped into as comfortable a seated position as she could manage, in the cramped shaft. Massaging her shoulder and biceps, she looked about, trying to make out any details. This was a rather pointless task however, given that a) the vent was pitch black, so she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, and b) there very likely _were_ no details to speak of anyway.

She had extensive experience in these matters after all – the 'glamorous' life of a professional espionage agent often took her to such places. Resting her head back against the 'wall', she reflected that things could be worse. This one actually seemed pretty roomy by the usual standards; she was usually forced to slither along in these things, nosing her stuff in front of her.

Seized now with curiosity, she fumbled in her purse until she found her phone. She should really be trying to save the power, but decided that whilst she was resting, a quick look wouldn't hurt. It wasn't like she could just call Jill after she'd ruined her own phone falling in the river. It hadn't been her fault – she'd been grabbed and pulled in, but still…

Her mild annoyance at her girl vanished in a blaze of light. Around her the vent sprang into existence, shadows forming then skidding away as the light erupted forth from the screen, bouncing wildly off the metallic walls. Ada noticed such things only abstractly however; she was too busy peering down at the screen, grinning helplessly at the picture of Jeanie that Jill had sent her. Absently stroking her ankle where the furious feline had attacked her, Ada felt so peaceful, less alone.

Looking around the vent, she saw it was indeed pretty spacious. Not large enough to crouch in really, but she was able to get by reasonably well on all fours. When you were dealing with deadly chemicals like the T-Virus and its various strains, a good ventilation system was only to be expected, she mused idly. In fact she wouldn't be surprised if this system had been constructed as a kind of 'bolt hole' also, in case of an outbreak. The system would run through the complex – it could quite easily serve as an emergency escape route. Mother certainly knew what she was doing… in some regards, anyway.

Shivering slightly, she became aware of a cool, gentle wind that was buffeting her from behind now. It was time to get going. Reluctantly, she glanced down at the screen for one last and turned the phone off, squeezing it affectionately, before putting it back in her purse. Shuffling to the side, she bent slightly around to catch some of the wind on her face. It would be coming from fans gusting air through the system obviously, but they had come to mean more than that.

She was following where they pointed, had made her way here by following the air currents, refusing side passages if the wind was blowing against her etc. It was stupid perhaps, but when she put her face to the wind… no, that was _too_ silly. It… no… there! There _was_ something! She couldn't believe it - a voice! A… oh, wait a minute…

Looking about and straining her ears, she could faintly hear a voice in the distance - a real voice, not the wind. Well… of course it hadn't been, what was she saying? Moving forward as swiftly as she could, she listened carefully trying to make out where it was coming from. Up ahead, she was sure… it looked like there was something up there, light coming from somewhere.

The voice was muffled, but it was… singing? It was hard to tell, but it didn't sound like English (or German either, for that matter). As she crawled forward in excited curiosity, she felt something stirring in her mind suddenly, a voice from the past struggling to be remembered. She froze in place, the voice drifting in (rather sadly she felt) from beyond a mesh screen up ahead… It was still hard to make out the particulars, but it sounded like one of the Celtic languages…

The area around the screen was slightly more open she found, the light from behind the mesh illuminating a small cubical space. As the music continued to wash languidly through the screen, she felt her heart starting to beat faster, a great weight falling about she shoulders. Looking down, she saw she had (quite unconsciously) drawn her gun.

The voice was much clearer here – the singer must be close by, very close by. And though the language disguised it somewhat, it was now clear to her who the voice belonged to. A voice singing in an old welsh dialect; singing of pure, beloved children stolen and replaced with appalling demons bored into her head - but also out of her memory. It _was_ her; she was right there below her!

Scrambling next to the screen, Ada tried desperately to make out the corridor below, see if someone really was down there. However the light, she soon discovered, came from a ceiling fixture which lit up only a relatively small area. Beyond this, the passage was submerged in a darkness that seemed to foam and seethe. Together with the tightly laced mesh, it was almost impossible to make anything out down there.

But she _was_ there - Ada knew it. She was standing in the corridor, maybe even looking up at her. She brought her gun up pointed it at the mesh. The singing stopped, and it was as if Ada could _hear_ the blackness below, its hatred and condemnation. Perhaps she didn't think her daughter could do it – if so, she was wrong.

'You did this, this is all your fault' she whispered calmly, her heart pounding in her chest, but her hand steady. 'Why shouldn't I, after all you've done?'

Her aim was suddenly thrown off as another pronounced shiver ran through her. The gusts had started up again, blowing with some force against her. Not violent, but… insistent. She turned and felt its cooling rush, flowing around her trying to nudge her away. She looked back…she was sure she was right about this. The darkness seemed to swarm about the tunnel below, provoking and mocking… She… had work to do. Reaching down into her purse, she gripped the phone for support. Yes, she had work to do and this wasn't it. She had to go….

Leaning back, she closed her eyes and holstered her gun. Taking a deep breath, she lifted herself up and set off along the vent, determined not to look back. From behind her, she could hear the low singing start up again. Her body was tightening in indignant rage, but fought with all her might to control herself, clinging to the phone as she went. She knew why she was here; she knew who she had come for. She kept reminding herself of this, until finally the voice faded and could no longer be heard.

There was no time to celebrate this moment of strength however. Almost as soon as the last far-off strains faded from earshot, she spied fresh shafts of light penetrating into the vent shaft in the distance. Instinctively, she flattened herself against the floor; putting the phone away quickly as if afraid something might strike out at it. Seeing and hearing nothing further however, she soon mastered her alarm and squirmed forward as quietly as she could to get a closer look.

A hole in the vent looked down on what appeared to be a medium sized office of some kind. A plastic grill blocked access to the room, but she could still see fairly well through the slits. Besides a desk and some small items of furniture, her attention was drawn to a coat rack where several lab coats were hanging. Small trays of medical looking implements, as well as the usual slightly gruesome looking charts of human anatomy, suggested that she had indeed found the doctor she had been searching for.

She rolled onto her back, listening for any sounds. She thought she could hear something… muffled speech perhaps, from a nearby room. Just one person, she thought. It was far too faint from here to make out if it was the man she had heard on the radio before though. So the… signs and what have you, really _had_ brought her to the right place… incredible…

She rolled over again, dismissing it. She had work to do, so she set about inspecting the grill, trying a few test prods and pulls to see if she could work it loose… no good. It was fixed in place. Okay then, what did she have? Shuffling up as best she could, she opened her purse and rummaged around inside, finally settling on a small bar of lipstick (or what looked like lipstick to the untrained eye, anyway).

Carefully and silently unwinding the rapel cord, she hooked the end onto the grill, before securing the other end around her wrist. Then very carefully, she opened the lipstick container. Although it looked fairly innocuous, this stuff was highly corrosive – one of the advantages of working for chemical companies. Gingerly, she applied it around the edges of the grill and slithered back to let it do its work, keeping a steady hand on the cord. The last thing she needed was it falling into the room and causing a racket.

A minute or so later, she was ready. With the grill now free, she lowered it slowly into the room and prepared to follow it in. She still couldn't hear anything definite from the rooms below. It looked like there were two exits: one to the outside corridor, another doorway just poking up from behind a large wooden screen filled with appointment cards and reminders. This was handy though, as it would screen her descent into the room. Still, she wished she could hear Jill's voice just to know that she was okay.

Lowering herself into the room, she landed lightly on her feet, straightened up… and froze. Footsteps from behind the screen – someone was coming! Looking around, she saw with a sinking heart that there was nowhere to hide. She shrank against the screen, drawing her gun. Any second now… was that water running?

Peering out cautiously, she saw that someone – a man – had indeed entered the room. Dressed in a dark shirt and trousers, he looked almost like a moving shadow, but for his hair which shone silvery grey in the light. He was standing in a small scrub area, just off the side behind his desk, rummaging through a cabinet in front of him. A tray was resting near him, jutting over the sink.

Ada barely stifled a scream, reaching out desperately to steady herself against the screen. Nevertheless, a low, choked sob tore itself defiantly from her mouth, but the rushing tap water muffled this, thankfully. But how could she stay silent – the tray was covered in scalpels, syringes and other surgical equipment! Absently mindedly, the man reached down and ran a pair of scissors under the tap. With a sickly, nauseous feeling, Ada saw the water run red briefly – they had been covered in blood…

She could feel it inside her, the acidic bile; the rage mounting by the second. Images, terrible images flashed through her mind, of Jill frightened and alone, of… no! She blinked the pain away and as her eyes flicked open, she saw the face of one who could help her. Staring back out of a mirror, she saw her reflection, its face twisted in righteous, terrified fury.

His hand still on the cabinet door, the man was also transfixed, gazing with terror at the vision of hatred behind him. Her body tensed painfully, straining for the order to move, her mind screamed for vengeance. His eyes were masked by a pair of old spectacles, but she imagined the guilt that must be in those eyes – he knew he deserved this. How could she let something like this go?! It wasn't fair to expect that from her. The order to fire shot from her brain, and she felt no guilt whatsoever…

At that moment however, the air was filled with glittering shapes and her instincts countermanded her order, forcing her to cover up as the tray and its deadly contents crashed with deafening clatter all about her. Through her arms, she saw the doctor making to escape behind the screen and lashed out a kick at a nearby trolley, causing it to collide with a violent smash into him as he ran, throwing him back near the sink.

She straightened and fired, as he whirled about with a fresh missile of his own. The air filled with screams of pain, as both weapons found their mark. Ada became aware that she had dropped her gun away; the feeling in her arm temporarily masked by pain, as the lamp struck her still aching limb. Clutching at it and looking up, her vision was filled with red.

It was not, as she briefly pondered with awe, the fabled 'red mist' – it was nothing so lofty. It was blood, simple and mundane, running hideously down the cracked glass of the cabinet. She saw her face obscured in the bleeding cracks in the glass, the point of impact seeming to give her reflection a grinning, gaping cackle. Mesmerized momentarily by this apparition, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye.

Before she could act, she was lifted up off her feet, as her wounded but still active opponent, barreled desperately into her. Such was his manic velocity; they flew back, collapsing over another trolley, the room thundering with the tinkling of smashing glass and crunching equipment.

A pain in her pain snapped her quickly back to conscious thought. She had landed on top of the trolley with its wheel sticking in her back, so, mustering a mighty effort, she rolled off it onto the floor. Rising up to all fours, she flinched at a nick she took in her leg from one of the many shards of glass covering the floor. The doctor was lying on his back groaning but stirring nearby. Where was her gun… there!

Lunging forwards, she was brought painfully down on her belly, feeling a weight land on the back of her legs. As she struggled to turn, she could feel him scramble up to try and get hold of her, and she squirmed frantically to free herself. She thought he may have been shouting something at her, but she had only one objective – to get free.

With panic, she felt a hand grab her left arm, but as he tried to do the same on the right, she caught hold of him and pulling his arm down, sank her teeth as deep as she could into his wrist, drawing blood and cutting savagely into the flesh. As he sprang back from her, yelling in pain, she turned and thrust her elbow at his face, catching him squarely between the eyes, his glasses and perhaps even some bone, shattering under the force.

The move sent further jarring pain down her arm however, and she fell away onto her back. She had no time to nurse this pain however, as he came again, gurgling incoherently, his face a bloody mess now, his wrist bleeding freely. Crashing down onto her, he seized her about the neck, calling aloud in german, although she had other matters to attend to than listen to him – like stopping him from choking her.

Although constricting, she found there was little power to his grasp however. He seemed distracted and lost in his own head, screaming to the room at large, and although the pain at her throat was intense, she found she could still think… she had to get… what was… yes!

His cries stopped abruptly as with a shout, Ada drove the scalpel into his neck. Instantly, his hands slackened about her neck, and he seemed to truly see her for the first time. She saw herself too, her anger and sorrow reflected in the ruined remains of his glasses. Opening his mouth, he tried to say something, but Ada shoved the blade in further, choking off the words. How dare he try to say anything after what he had done!

With a sudden burst of energy, he lurched up and stumbled back, falling heavily against the wooden screen. Turning slowly, he staggered towards the desk, reaching out… perhaps for a new weapon. She had to stop him: swiftly, she rolled over, retrieving her gun. In the split second as she took hold of the gun in her hand, she was struck by the sense of satisfaction that had come over her, now that he was breathing his last. But nobody hurt her girl, _nobody! _

Whipping about, she was about to squeeze the trigger, when she saw he had fallen lifelessly against the desk – it was over. Shivering with anger and with the taste of blood still in her mouth, she pondered shooting anyway, desperate to hold onto something to stave it off. But it was no good – looking down at the bloodied implements, knew it was time to see what he had done to her girl…

Fighting to remain calm, she tried to stand, but her body refused, unwilling to face whatever horror awaited in the next room. If Jill was okay, then she'd have called out, when she heard the noise, wouldn't she? Perhaps she was only sedated… but what about the blood then? She couldn't breathe, fear was clutching about her, squeezing the life from her. She had to move or she'd stay here forever, terrified to take those few steps.

'She's okay', she told herself adamantly, forcing herself to her feet with determination. 'She's okay, just go in and get her, everything will be alright…' In this barely conscious daze, she picked her way towards the door. It loomed darkly ahead, beckoning to her. With welcome or mockery however, she could not say.

Moving past the doctor, she glanced down at him. In his early thirties perhaps, he had a blasted, worn look about him. Spitting the last of his blood away, she noticed that his wrists seemed to be scarred – maybe he'd… Anyway, slumped as he was against the desk like that, he looked like he was praying now. She smirked contemptuously – what right did _he_ have for… Looking down, she saw her hands were clasped together. She had no right either, but please, _please_…

As it had seemed from outside, the room beyond was indeed in darkness. Unable to take in most of the features of the room, Ada's vision was drawn to a curtained bed, lit by a lamp behind the sheeting. She thought of Lydia upstairs… was she going to find the same thing had happened to her Jill.

"Oh… no, _no! _I… I got here as soon as I could, baby… don't be… _Please!_"

She just couldn't stand it anymore. Whatever had happened, she needed to be with her. Without thinking, she had raced forward, desperate to know. With a vicious yank, she pulled the sheeting back so hard it came away from its railing, revealing… an empty bed.

"Wha… aahhhh!"

A cold pain in her cheek… on the floor… what…? Groggily, she lifted herself up, jerking to the left, as something restricted her movement. Looking over, she saw she was lying in a heap on the floor at the far end of the room, handcuffed to a pipe. Her head throbbed where she had been hit suddenly. What… who…

"Who… who's there?" she called, panic threatening to overtake her. Not so much for herself – this was nothing new to her. It was more the fact that Jill wasn't here… or was she?

"Baby, is that you? It… it's me! I… I don't know what they did to you, but I'm here now! Don't you remember me? It's Ada; it's Adi! I came to get… Who are you? I don't know you."

As she spoke, someone had walked into view from out of the gloom. A young woman, but not her Jill. Dressed in a surgical gown and sporting a gash on her forehead which had been recently sewn, this woman was younger… but she had a gun.

Unsure what to say, Ada tried to lift her hands in surrender. There was something familiar about this girl, now that she thought about it - she was sure she'd seen her before somewhere. The girl (as she seemed little older than 22 at most, Ada guessed), looked shocked and angry. Ada knew the feeling – where was her girl, what was this all about?! She had to say something…

A shot rang out striking the wall near her, causing her to cower away instinctively in a ball. No, she couldn't die here – Jill needed her! She had to stop this girl… had to do something, say something! Before she could say anything however, the girl spoke instead:

"You may not know who I am, but I know who you are, Miss Ada Wong."


	17. Chapter 17

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Seventeen.**

"Please, are… are you still there?" Ada called out, looking around fruitlessly for something to use.

A bracket fixing the pipe to the wall meant that she could only really sit or kneel. The small area she could reach, seemed to have been cleared away just in case - her purse was lying on a side counter, far out of reach. Exasperated, she pricked her ears up, listening for any sound in the next room. She had to get free…

"Please… look, you don't understand. I don't know how you know me…" (Given her line of work however, it was more than likely this girl was an angry relative or friend or some such of someone she'd...). "… but, you're making a mistake! If you just let me…"

She stopped mid-sentence as the young woman appeared silhouetted in the doorway to the office. She seemed to have changed into some regular clothing now, but Ada could see she was still shaken up. She had to be careful here; the girl could have undergone who knew what horrors here. And yet… there was something oddly familiar about her.

"I'm making a mistake, am I?" the girl muttered quietly, almost it seemed, to herself.

Ada knelt up, careful to keep her hands visible, so as not to provoke her further. She wasn't sure the girl even wanted an answer, but it was the first time she'd spoken since revealing she knew who Ada was.

"I… I swear I didn't come here to hurt you. I'm looking for someone is all. That's all I want… _all _I want" she finished in a weary voice.

These situations always called for the truth, but talking about her girl just drove home how hopeless it all seemed. She'd finally made it here and her girl wasn't here. Now she had to get out of this, overpower this woman and then what? She felt like screaming and beating her fists on the floor. She just wanted her girl back - was that too much to ask?!

She looked back up to see the woman hadn't moved, apparently waiting for her to continue: "Please... I imagine if you do know me, you think… well, I can guess what you think, but…"

"Is your name Ada Wong?" the girl interrupted in a strained, cracked voice. She'd been crying it seemed, but that was understandable. Still, there was a definite undercurrent of rage – Ada could tell this line of questioning would lead to a very dangerous place.

"Please, I _swear_ to you, I…" she started. There was a brief flash at the girl's hand and the wall just above her left shoulder exploded with dust and tiling. Ada felt the handcuffs bite into her wrist slightly as she threw herself to the floor, covering up.

"Answer the question! Is your name Ada Wong?" the girl shouted, pacing forward menacingly. Ada sat up and pushed herself back against the wall. She felt so exposed, humiliated and alone. She couldn't go back to a life like this…

"Yes! Yes, my name's Ada Wong! You know it is!" she stammered, her voice filled angry fear over this treatment.

'You don't deserve this' she told herself. 'Don't let her believe that you deserve this… Jill told you, remember?' Miserably, she clung to these words, whilst trying to put on a defiant face.

The girl seemed somewhat pacified by this, and leant against the counter, looking over at her. In the gloom, Ada couldn't make out much about her. She was rather short, had medium length hair and seemed to be in generally good physical shape. Ada was confident she could probably best her in a fight, but a gun was a gun…

"You see, that's interesting to me" the girl continued lightly. "You say I'm making a mistake here, but the only Ada Wong that _I_ know of…"

With an icy lurch in her stomach, Ada suddenly found she couldn't meet the girl's gaze, even in this feeble light. If she knew as much as she was claiming, this was a conversation she could _really_ do without. Her head and heart were pounding… she wasn't ready for this yet. 'I don't deserve this…' she chanted to herself. 'I did what I had to do…'

But the girl it seemed was just getting started: "Does the name Richard Allen Gainsborough mean anything to you?" (An image of a crosshairs superimposed over the face of a man getting out of his car flashed into Ada's mind. As the shot rang out, she blinked the memory away, feeling a pain inside that she never would have felt 6 months ago).

"Don't remember him, no? Well, perhaps I have the wrong Ada Wong…" the girl continued in a businesslike tone. "The Miss Wong _I'm_ thinking of was suspected as having a hand in a bombing incident a few years back. A luxury yacht, I think it was… But then I guess it couldn't be you - you'd _have_ to remember something like that if it was you, right?"

The girl's voice was shot through with bitter disgust as she spoke: "What was his name again, the owner… it'll come back to me... Oh yes: Manuel Costanza." (Ada mouthed the name silently along with her), "That was it… Yes, they say he survived in surgery for hours afterwards, until the shock of the burns got him in the end…"

She remembered the sight of the flames burning in the evening air, screams floating after her on the sea breeze… She was going to be sick…Leaning forward, the young woman pushed off the counter, advancing slowly. Ada shook her head and tried to look away: "Don't remember him either? Hmm, this isn't going very well, is it? How about Senator James McNulty…?"

Shaking her head, Ada saw him in her mind, floating in his swimming pool, bullet holes riddling his body. She cringed away as the girl loomed over her, seeming impossibly tall as she stood in terrible judgment over her.

"Stop it! Stop it, please!" Ada whispered. She'd _had_ to do these things; she hadn't had a choice… she didn't deserve this… Jill had _told_ her…

"No?" the girl snarled, her words falling on Ada with the force of a hammer, slamming her further and further against the wall. "How about Joshua Holbrook," (face down at his kitchen table, garroted, she recalled with a convulsion), "…Daniel Castorwick (stabbed through the heart in his private train car – her head was swimming, she couldn't…), "...Harold Widmark…" (gunned down on his front doorstep… and as was leaving, she'd heard… please don't say it…)

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Ada sobbed, shaking her head violently now. Pressing her palms against her ears, she tried to drown out the girl's words. But the girl wasn't finished…

"Hmm, Harold Widmark… You know, I think…"

"No… don't, please…" Ada whimpered, tears streaming down her face, clinging against the pipe. Why was she doing this?! The pause from the girl caused her to look up finally. The look of disgust on her face was so genuine… Ada felt the energy, the hope, draining away from her. She… _did_ she deserve this?

"I think his body was actually found by his 3 year old son as he was playing…"

Ada screamed, pressing her hands against her ears, digging in her nails, crying out in shame and misery. She pressed so hard that she began to feel faint... When she came to her senses, she was lying with her head against the pipe, her whole body aching with the violence of her past. She didn't know what to think now. She… she just wanted her girl…

'_You know I don't like it when you talk about yourself like that, baby...' _Feebly, she clung to Jill's words; she had to believe her. She had to be strong.

"Well, it seems I _do_ have the right Miss Wong, after all" mused the... girl. She sounded much more like a girl than a woman now that Ada thought about it. "Come to help out your Mother have you? You people... you're sick, just sick." Her voice was shaking with anger now, before continuing in a voice that simmered with a low rage: "Why? I mean, look at this place!" (She pushed a trolley over, smashing a box of medical equipment and empty containers for viral samples onto the floor.) "Look at what she's been doing and you defend her?! All those people dead by your hand, for her and for Umbrella; it just makes me sick! Don't you care about what you've done, who you've hurt?!"

She was coming closer again. Turning to look at her; Ada could feel the indignant rage shining forth from her. Yet she was struck by how young the girl looked now. The age gap couldn't be all that wide between them, but she felt so much older than this girl. She found that she had to suppress a laugh – it felt so strange, being lectured like this by someone younger than her. She was so naïve, it was… touching really. She just couldn't relate to these people – Jill had mentioned that too. People like her and Jill were from different worlds to people like this girl...

Sitting up with a great effort, she smoothed her hands over her face. She had to pull herself together - Jill would be furious if she caught her like this, feeling all sorry for herself. '_You never have to feel guilty or ashamed' _she recalled her girl telling her in a firm but soothing voice. This girl didn't know anything - she was done being the victim here.

"Go ahead then; go ahead, if you're going to - I did what I had to do. Do you think I chose this life; do you think I _wanted_ to do all those things?" Ada started, wiping away her tears, determined to believe her girl's words. Her girl believed in her; she had to hold onto that. "People dear to me were threatened unless I complied and so I did. But I'm not going to lie and say I agonized over it. I blocked it all out; I had to. It was a simple choice – them or me, basically."

"You think you can _justify_ the things you and your family have done?" the girl blurted out incredulously.

"I'm saying that until recently, I didn't feel the need to justify it to anyone. Maybe I do deserve this punishment, but if you want me to apologize… I'm not sure I can give you one yet." (The girl stiffened noticeably at this, but Ada felt such release now that she was speaking the truth about her life at last).

"I don't know who exactly it was that you cared about, what I did to them, but the people I was sent after… do you really think they were good people? They were monsters, every one." She gestured about her: "You see what these people are into; none of us are innocent anymore."

This was extremely dangerous ground, but this was how it was. Truth… always the truth in times like this… The girl didn't reply (perhaps she was too stunned), so she continued:

"But I _did_ care… I didn't think I did, but… I met someone recently who helped me to see that." She looked up at the girl in defiance: "I've spent so long running from all this that I _honestly_ don't know how I feel about anything right now. But it hurts when think of what I did now and it didn't before. I… I think I'm getting better now I'm with her… but I'm not there yet. And well, that's it - I can't give you any more than that, I'm sorry."

As she finished, she forced herself to remain staring at the girl, though she was close to fainting away again at these confessions. Everything was so confusing now; the only thing that made any sense was finding her Jill and Lydia. She needed them; everything else would have to wait. Finally the girl broke the silence:

"Dr Lukas Neumann; do you remember him?" she asked in a cold, but slightly wavering voice.

Ada closed her eyes wearily. Had she even heard a word she said? These people just never would understand... "No… no, I don't…" she mumbled.

"Of course she doesn't. My girl never uses a door if she can slink through a window or a vent or something!"

The girl twirled about at this new voice. Ada lunged forward, juddering to a halt as the cuffs restrained her.

"Jill!" she shouted joyfully, her body shaking with sheer, wild excitement. Outraged at being prevented from racing into her arms, she strained and pulled at the cuffs, trying to yank them free.

"Stop that, this minute, young lady - you'll hurt yourself!" Jill called over. Looking up, Ada found herself lost for words. Mutely, she reached out for her girl, but Jill motioned for her to be patient, inclining her head to ask if she was alright. Blinking back tears, Ada nodded happily.

Meanwhile, the girl had simply been standing, staring in astonishment at Jill. Looking at them both now, it seemed to Ada that they knew each other. Then the penny dropped at last – she remembered the photo of the STARS on Jill's mantle…

"Jill?!" the woman gasped at last.

"Hello Rebecca. Long time, no see" Jill responded, training her gun on her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Eighteen.**

**Author's note: This Chapter needs a final 'going over' for typos etc, but I'm away for a bit and wanted to get it up before I left for sunnier climes. **

'Concentrate on Rebecca first' Jill told herself. Although her whole body was tingling with excitement and relief at finding her girl at last, her protective instincts had been sharply aroused at the various cuts and scrapes Ada seemed to be sporting now.She ached to hold her girl and make sure she was alright, but she needed to be 'mother bear' first, before she could be 'mother hen'...

Although she had been momentarily startled at Jill's sudden entrance, Rebecca was still pointing her gun vaguely in Ada's direction. This was definitely an awkward situation – and just typical that her girl would find such trouble to get herself into, she thought with an inward smile.

Still in a kind of daze it seemed, Rebecca looked over at the gun Jill was pointing at her, a startled and confused look on her face.

"Well… what are _you_ doing here? And get that gun off me, will you - what are you playing at?" she managed at last.

Jill tried her best to remain calm, careful not make any sudden moves. She could see Ada fidgeting nervously out of the corner of her eye: "I'll be glad to…" she began, "... just as soon as you lower yours. You're scaring her and me, so… please."

She motioned down gently with her gun. Rebecca frowned slightly; then looked down at her pistol, Ada, and finally Jill again.

"You want…? No, Jill look, you don't understand, okay? This woman is…"

"I know exactly who she is, Rebecca. Ada's with me, okay? I'm telling you, you don't need to do this. So I'm asking you again, put the gun down and then we can talk about it" Jill interrupted calmly but firmly.

Rebecca looked shocked, mouthing what Jill thought was probably "My _girl_?" incredulously to herself. Here it came…

"She's… she's with _you_? You've got to be… Jill, have you gone _crazy_?! This woman's a… an assassin! She works for Umbrella! She…"

"_Worked_ for Umbrella, past tense" Jill insisted, motioning quickly to Ada to be quiet and let her handle this, as she felt her girl about to defend herself. Ada looked outraged briefly, but was pacified as Jill put her finger to her lips with a pestered smile.

Seeing Rebecca's look of appalled incredulity, Jill took the opportunity to go on: "I know the things she's done, Rebecca. I've read all the same reports that you have…" (She saw that Ada had stiffened and was hanging her head at this – the particulars of her girl's past was something they hadn't properly discussed, deciding mutually that it was better to leave the past where it belonged.) But she had to try and get Rebecca to understand how she felt about Ada.

"I've read it all, but I know her, Rebecca, and you don't. You'll just have to trust me on this one" she finished, willing this to be done with, so she could assure her girl that none of what she knew about her past mattered to her at all.

Rebecca looked back at Ada, then shook her head with a small, bitter laugh: "Trust _you_?! That's a good one, Jill. Because it's always worked out so well in the past, trusting you, hasn't it?"

Jill's heart sank. It had only been a matter of time before this came up; the old wounds were always the deepest. She racked her brains for how best to approach this, but Rebecca went on before she could:

"Given your track record, you want me to let _this_ woman, of all people, go? My… she's a _killer,_ for God's sake!" she shouted in an exasperated tone.

"We're _all_ killers, Rebecca. It was our job, remember?" Jill objected hotly. She had to divert this stream of abuse to her instead of Ada. If she could make this about her and Rebecca, take Ada out of it, she might have a better chance of getting through to her.

Rebecca was refusing to meet her gaze at this challenge. She was looking down the gun sights at Ada, but she seemed far away now as she responded:

"_Your _job maybe, but not mine: STARS Bravo were a very different unit to Alpha, and you know it. The captain always said we were the real cops; you Alphas were just soldiers with badges. He…"

"Enrico's dead, Rebecca." Jill cut in lightly. A shivering cry ran through Rebecca, but she quickly reasserted herself as Jill pressed on with her point: "There's… there's no STARS now; there's just us. Leave the past where it belongs… don't do this."

"It figures you'd take up with someone like her actually - I see it now" Rebecca mused aloud in a cracking, strained voice. "Someone who won't accept responsibility for their actions… someone who thinks you can just forgive and forget…"

"You've never forgiven me, I know that" Jill said wearily, trying now to avoid her girl's questioning gaze. Rebecca's face had simply hardened as if in agreement with this. She thought back to those terrible events in the Arklay mountains and of the times before that. The STARS… her family.

"You blame Alpha, but me most of all, right?" she continued, one foot in the past now. "I mean we worked alongside Wesker for years, how could we not have seen anything was wrong? Chris looked up to him like a father; he was so close, he'd never have seen it. Barry had been gotten to, Brad always had his head in the clouds… but I should have seen something, and I didn't. I was just so happy to fit in somewhere at last… and I didn't see it."

"Edward, Richard, the Captain… they all used to say that something was up with him and that you and Chris just brushed them off. But they're dead now… and you, Chris and Wesker are all still alive… Does that seem fair to you?" Rebecca was choking on her words now.

Jill blinked her own sorrow away – she was needed here in the present: "No, no it doesn't. You want to punish me… but please don't do it like this. I was there when Enrico was shot and I couldn't do anything to save him. You can't make me go through that again with my girl… "

"Or you'll shoot me?"

Rebecca suddenly turned to face Jill, pointing her gun at her instead. Alarmed at both this and Ada's sudden cries of protest and warning, Jill somehow managed to keep herself from pulling the trigger. Her heart was thundering in her ears, the adrenalin was causing her whole body to shake.

She was getting through to Rebecca; now she just had to talk her down, calm it all down. She raised her finger to her lips as quickly as she dared, to cut off Ada's cries of protest.

"Well, is that what you're saying?" asked Rebecca in a tired, disgusted voice. "I let her go or you shoot me? You wouldn't act to save the Captain, but you would for her, that's it, is it?"

Jill took her first good look at Rebecca. She looked pretty much the same as she always had in many regards. A youthful, slightly 'geeky' look to her… but the hatred on her face… that was new. It didn't suit her at all. She had obviously suffered greatly after the death of her Bravo teammates. She wasn't old enough or experienced enough to let it go yet. And her and Enrico had always been like father and daughter…

"He… they were all my friends too, Rebecca" Jill responded in a tired voice. "Me and Enrico… we disagreed about lots of things – he'd certainly have had some words to say about me and Ada – but he was my friend. Don't you think I would have done anything to save him if I could?" she reasoned.

Rebecca's eyes dropped slightly. This could be a chance… but she looked up again, tightening her grip on the pistol.

"All I know is that instead of justice for working with the people that did this, _she_...," (she gestured in Ada's direction) "…gets your protection. How…"

"It's not protection I'm after - I love her!" Ada interjected angrily, but Rebecca just shook her head without looking over, to indicate she wasn't interested in anything she had to say.

Jill motioned for Ada to calm down again – for a spy, her girl was terrible at sitting still and being quiet when it came to their relationship.

"I know you don't believe it, Rebecca, but no-one's tricking anyone here. I care about Ada more than anything in the whole world. You might think that's… I don't know, disrespectful or something. But I can't help… I won't deny the way I feel. That's just the way the world works."

"So all the things she's done – you're just fine with all that, are you?!" exclaimed Rebecca disbelievingly.

Jill sighed in frustration – Rebecca's narrow view of the world was providing extremely stubborn resistance: "She had to become that person – her mother…"

"Oh, don't you give me that song and dance too!" Rebecca howled. "All that is supposed to make it alright?! Why does she deserve special treatment? She's _sorry_ now, so never mind?! What…"

Seized with a sudden fury, Jill swung her arm across a nearby trolley, sending glass bottles crashing to the ground. This movement and the jarring noise cut Rebecca's tirade off completely. Jill wasn't even bothering to point her gun at her anymore. She just shrugged at her girl as if to say 'What more can I do?!'

She turned to face Rebecca, shaking with anger and nearly laughing at the sheer idiocy of all this. Here they were in the middle of a deadly outbreak and she was justifying her love life to someone five years her junior!

"When are you going to wake up, Rebecca, hmm?!" she snarled. "The world isn't as clean cut as that! It's not good guys and bad guys – this isn't some movie! My girl had her reasons for doing what she did, but honestly, that doesn't really matter to me one bit!"

Rebecca looked truly astonished at this and just stared dumbly. Ada had raised up onto her knees again, looking curiously at her. She returned her gaze and smiled affectionately, getting a relieved but nervous grin in reply.

"I love my girl, okay? That's all that matters that me – I love her. Whatever she's done or why she did it, that doesn't change that fact. We are in the middle of all this again and I don't have time or energy to waste on trawling through our pasts. I have our future – hers and mine – to look after! That's what I have to focus on now. So I'm sorry if we don't match up to your standards, but that's how it is!" she finished.

With that, she marched past Rebecca, heading over to Ada, who strained out to reach for her. A click of a gun being readied stopped her in her tracks however. Ada looked terrified and was pulling so hard, something had to give soon.

"You really refuse to take any blame for what happened? You want me to just forget?" Rebecca sobbed behind her.

Jill hung her head – she had to do this: "Rebecca, I tried, but he wouldn't let me help him."

"Wh.. what are you saying? Don't lie to me! You…"

"He was hurt when I found him, but still alive. I tried to get him out of the mine, but he drew a gun on me. He knew someone in Alpha was a traitor and he thought I might be. He didn't trust me, and he died for it. I'm sorry but there it is."

A stunned silence from behind her was finally broken as Rebecca stammered:

"You're… you're lying! You just want to save your wretched girlfriend! You…"

"I'm not lying and you know it, Rebecca. But I do want to save her, you're right. I can't stand by and do nothing…"

"Then we're back to square one. You'd really shoot me to save her?"

Ada looked up at her, a quizzical expression on her face.

"No, I wouldn't shoot you, Rebecca" she spoke softly as she lifted her gun slowly up to her forehead.

"NO!! Baby, don't!! Stop, stop, what are doing?! No don't, please don't do it! Stop, STOP!!" Ada howled, pulling and straining, battering at the pipe with her fists, before reaching out pleadingly, tears streaming down her face. It broke Jill's heart to see this - her girl still didn't believe she was someone worthy of this kind of sacrifice.

Jill leaned forward, taking Ada's desperately grasping free hand in hers. Gently, she resisted Ada's attempt to pull her close, instead lacing their fingers together. Ada was shaking her head trying to avoid her gaze, but Jill stubbornly tracked it down. Staring into her girl's eyes, she caressed her hand slowly and lovingly, shushing her softly. Gradually, she wore her resistance down, her girl's fear ebbing away, until finally they were both ready. Ada nodded slightly - if this was how it had to end, they were ready.

"I'd be following right after her anyway" Jill stated softly, not moving her gaze from her girls for one second. "I can't stand by and watch you kill the person most precious to me - I won't. My life is with her now. If I can't have her, then… Call us cowards for running if you like, but this is how it has to be. We both live or we both die..."

A soft clink on the floor caused them to look down. A small key that Jill recognized as being for the handcuffs lay at her feet. Lowering the gun, she looked round. Rebecca had lowered her gun also and was standing in the doorway. As Jill looked, she saluted.

"I'm going to be cleaning up in here if you need me for anything, ma'am. I'm… I'm very sorry for everything I said."

Jill smiled with relieved gratitude. As Rebecca turned to leave the room, Jill called after her:

"Thank you. I do miss him, Rebecca. I miss everyone..."

Nodding sadly, the younger woman left them alone. Feeling her Ada's insistent tugs at her hand, Jill turned back and dropped down next to her girl, straight into a long, passionate kiss. Her pent up fear and anxiety was blown away by the force of her girl's embrace. There was relief and joy in the kiss, but also great anger and recrimination... her girl was mad at her.

Uttering a slight scream of frustration at only having one hand to hold her, Ada pulled back, tugging violently at the handcuffs, pulling and yanking so hard, Jill was forced to restrain her. Holding her hand out for the key, Ada fought her off as she tried to unlock them for her. Finally she handed the key over, trying to find the right words.

"I'm so sorry, Adi. I..."

Freed from the handcuffs and pushing her away as she tried to check her for injuries, Ada suddenly snatched Jill's gun from the floor. Alarmed that she might go after Rebecca, Jill opened her mouth to object, but then saw that Ada was fiddling with the clip release. With new tears rolling down her face, she sobbed in angry frustration as she ripped the clip out and threw it over Jill's shoulder. Ripping the bullet in the chamber out next, she whipped it violently against the far, before finally throwing the empty gun viciously away to clatter across the floor.

Jill shook her head in abject apology, moving in to try and comfort her. Resisting her furiously, Ada battered against her with her fists, incapable of words in her guilt and anger. Jill accepted this fury, knowing she deserved nothing less for putting her girl through that, before her girl eventually wore herself out and fell into her arms, crying out in disbelieving relief.

Moving to sit against the wall, Jill folded around her girl, cradling her and kissing at her neck and hair: "I am _so_ sorry baby, but that's what you mean to me" Jill soothed, cradling her in her arms and stroking her hair. "I couldn't let her take you away from me... you know I couldn't. I know you don't think you're worth it, but you are, okay? _You are_!"

There was so much to think about and talk about. Rebecca, the masked girls, what Adi had been up to… but now right now. Right now, they were just so happy to be together again at last.

Together forever...


	19. Chapter 19

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Nineteen.**

Taking great care, Jill closed the door to, and after placing the tips of her fingers gently against the door, made her way into the office proper. Rebecca looked round from where she was splashing some water over her face at the sink, but Jill motioned that all was well. Confronted with this unexpected reunion, they were both nervous, unsure of what to say to each other.

The place looked much tidier now. Most of the evidence of the fight that had taken place here had been cleaned up, and Rebecca had laid one of the lab coats across the doctor's body. The couch had been dragged over and propped against the door for defense.

Finding that she was fidgeting slightly, Jill felt that familiar awkward feeling that she had always felt around Rebecca – in truth, she had never really known what to say to her, how to relate to her. Uncomfortable just standing around however, she paced over to the door under the pretext of checking the defenses.

"There's already quite a big barricade out there in the corridor" Rebecca commented from behind her. "But I thought better safe than sorry, right?"

Jill turned and nodded with approval. When Rebecca didn't say anything further, she wracked her brains for something else to say… "Yes… ah, well I saw it before actually - I had to scramble through it to get here" she managed at length, not quite sure why that bit of trivia would be of interest to anyone.

"There's a way round it, you know? But I guess you were in a hurry – did you know she was here?" Rebecca asked in a seemingly off the cuff fashion, but with an undertone that suggested something more. Jill wondered if she was trying to find out if they had intended to kill Dr Neumann…

"Yes… I mean yes, I knew she was here" Jill answered, fidgeting behind her back again. This was an incredibly awkward situation. On the one hand she was struggling to find anything to talk about, on the other she had to watch what she said. She still didn't know why Rebecca was here. She must be here to try and stop Umbrella's activities, but… there was definitely some connection between her and the deceased doctor.

"She… told you?" Rebecca asked curiously.

"I'm sorry?"

"That she was here. Did she get a message out or something? I just wondered…" Rebecca was definitely shaken up by Neumann's death – she was asking too many 'casual' questions…

"Well, it… er… Look, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit vague but it's been a long night and…"

'Nice going Jill', she rebuked herself as she tailed off. 'Not suspicious at all…' But Rebecca wouldn't believe how she'd known to come here. She could hardly believe it herself…

"Right, right - I didn't mean to pry! I'm kind of tired myself; I'll… I'll just shut up and… yes" she replied, turning back to where she was inventorying their supplies.

With another extremely uncomfortable silence thus initiated, and any further inquiry temporarily thwarted, Jill sat down rather heavily on the sofa to think. She ran her hands over her face and through her hair, trying to shake some brain cells into activity. Everything was up in the air at the moment. She had Adi back at last but they were far off the beaten track now. Getting back upstairs to Lydia had to be their priority. And in fact, Rebecca could probably help with that – she was a qualified medic after all.

She looked up at where the younger woman was sorting ammo and food on the desk. Would she even want to help them, though? Rebecca and Ada could hardly have gotten off to a worse start and Lydia was Ada's sister after all… plus there was their personal history. Jill sighed lightly. What would have been simple had this been Chris or even Barry was made much more difficult with Rebecca.

They'd never gotten along really, right from day one. Rebecca had always seemed too… happy. She hadn't seemed tough enough for the job, didn't have the right mentality. A lot of that though, Jill reflected, was Wesker's doing. He'd drilled the Alphas with his personal brand of elitism and professional soldiering, moulding them to look down on those who didn't follow their example.

With disgusted guilt, she remembered backing Wesker up when he had tried to veto Rebecca's application into STARS. Enrico and Wesker had had a huge row about it, and she'd stepped in to try and calm things down – by sticking up for the Alphas. 'Too young, not cut out for this' is what she'd argued. It had become a sore point between her and Enrico – especially as he overrode them to hire her anyway for his Bravos.

Jill looked up at where Rebecca was working away, checking and cleaning the weapons, sorting out what was absolutely essential and what could be left. She'd been wrong about her then, plain and simple. She wondered idly if Rebecca had ever gotten to hear about that meeting. Enrico hadn't been the kind to gossip, but Wesker might well have done - to sow seeds of discord between the two teams perhaps…

No…Rebecca was bound to help, she decided at last. Whatever had passed between them in the past, Rebecca simply wasn't the kind of person who would refuse to help an innocent like Lydia, if they were in trouble. Perhaps it stood to reason she'd be drawn to a doctor… She had to find out where Rebecca stood. Casting about for an opening, she spotted the doctor's name through the glass in the door, and flashed a look over to the covered body…

"Is that okay? It's not hurting too much is it?" she asked, pointing to her forehead to indicate the sewn up gash Rebecca was sporting.

Rebecca stopped and (unconsciously it seemed), raised a hand to her forehead: "This? No, no it's good. Lukas… er… it's fine, really" she finished, swallowing hard and looking away to get something from the sink.

Deciding not to press on, full steam ahead just yet, Jill rose and looked away respectfully, before trying a slightly new tack:

"Look… about what happened in there… Some of the things I said…" she began.

"Please Ma'am, there's no need to apologize…" Rebecca interrupted in a low voice, leaning against the sink.

"We're not in… you don't need to call me Ma'am" Jill said in what she hoped was a light, friendly tone. She was aware that the situation wasn't all that friendly at present however. "Well, I'm sorry at any rate. It was just such a shock to see you, I was worried about Adi and (Rebecca seemed to flinch irritably as Jill used her 'pet' name for Ada without thinking)…"

"It was – _is_ - none of my business, Ma… Let's just put it behind us. She's your…" (She didn't finish the remark but Jill mentally inserted the word 'responsibility'). "I won't cause any more fuss over it."

With what Jill was sure was a big effort, she looked up with a cheerful, encouraging smile, which Jill returned with similar difficulty. One big happy family again then… Deciding that this was about the best environment that could be hoped for, Jill pressed on, desperate to avoid letting the conversation fall into vaguely hostile silence again.

"Er, so… what are you doing here then, of all places? I lost touch with you after Arklay…" she asked sitting down at the desk in as best a casual 'old friends chatting' fashion as she could manage. Rebecca was evidently ill at ease with this also, but managed to find a reply:

"I – we've been keeping tabs on Umbrella. We…"

"I'm sorry - we?" Jill interrupted with genuine curiosity. Did she mean…

"Ah, just a few people who share our concerns about…" she sighed, looking pointedly at the door to the operating room where Ada was resting.

"Ah, never mind. Maybe later…" Jill placated her. It seemed she wasn't happy dropping any names around a former Umbrella spy… which although it stung Jill a bit, was fair enough really. She was further mollified by the fact that despite her mistrust of Ada, Rebecca did seem rather embarrassed to be so openly critical of Jill's partner.

"Anyway, we had a lead that Nuralis Cosmetics was a front company for Umbrella" she continued after a slight pause.

"Are any of your team here? Jill asked, cringing as she realized they may be dead if Rebecca was on her own now.

"No, there's just me here" Rebecca replied. "We're only a small cell really – we can't undertake large strike missions" she explained. "I came here to gather intelligence – joined the domestic staff upstairs, actually!" she finished.

"Oh… undercover, right?" Jill offered. She was careful not to say the word 'Spy', given that it might make Rebecca's earlier accusations at Ada seem rather hypocritical. Another delicate issue was the fact that Ada's mother left her documents in the open in direct challenge to spies…

"I see. So, did you get what you needed?" she asked as casually as she could.

"Er… I was making some progress, but it was still early days. Only a couple of months" Rebecca replied, making herself busy with the supplies and clearly embarrassed. It seemed Ada had been spot on about her mother's strange protective aura…

Stepping around the subject didn't seem to be working, so she'd just have to try a more direct approach. Kind of direct anyway…

"I've been meaning to ask something and if this is none of my business then please say so…" she started. She clearly had Rebecca's attention, and receiving no objections, she pressed on.

"Dr Neumann…?" She paused, hoping Rebecca would pick up on this for her, but aside from shuffling uncomfortably, she made no comment. "Was he… an informant perhaps? she tried, remembering the good old days when T-Virus outbreaks were all about desperate survival and bloody mayhem…

"An… informant?" Rebecca mused softly, looking over at the body. "I guess so… you could say that."

Jill leaned forward, her head in her hands. This was just perfect… Adi had dropped them both right in it again…

"I'm so sorry. But please, she didn't know – how could she have known? She saw the blood, assumed he'd hurt me and… it was a mistake. I… I don't know what else to tell you…"

"It's okay" Rebecca said shrugging suddenly and returning to her work. Jill looked up in alarm, but it was clear that it was far from okay. She reached out a hand to try and reassure her. Rebecca pulled away, turned away and froze, staring down at the body.

"There's no need to be sorry, really. We were just friends… sort of. I mean, we hadn't even known each other that long anyway– just under a month. Hardly enough time for true love to blossom, right?" she laughed with what started as a casual tone but ended in bitter sadness.

This was very bad indeed. Of all people, Jill knew that a month was quite enough time for true love - she looked over at the operating room door. She and Adi had only known each other for a couple of days, after all and a quote about running through fire sprang to mind…

"I'm not sure it isn't better this way" Rebecca continued in a low voice. "He was… very unhappy, you know?" Clearing her throat, she walked round the desk and unhooked a framed newspaper clipping off the wall, handing it to Jill.

Jill looked with concern at her, but with Rebecca refusing to meet her gaze, she gave in and looked the clipping over. It was written in german of course, but she managed to get the gist of the piece. A photograph showed a slightly younger Lukas Neumann in an academic gown receiving some sort of diploma. The article was extolling his virtues as a genius in the medical profession, a 'bright new mind' was that? With… a shiver ran down her spine as she read: 'Die hand auf Gott'.

"The Hand of God?" she read aloud with worried enquiry. Rebecca smiled with genuine amusement – Jill felt slightly embarrassed, but was pleased to see this brief return to the Rebecca of old, nonetheless.

"No, no – it says he had the _hands_ of god! You know, they say it when someone's really skilled with surgical equipment, that sort of thing…"

"Right…" Jill nodded, not sure that that explanation made her feel any more at ease. "So he was a prodigy then? The kind of person Umbrella would want to recruit, I suppose."

"Well… yes and no" Rebecca said taking the frame back and moving to hang it back up. "Not long after this picture, he and his family were driving to Templehof airport, when they had an accident…" She paused as she re-hung the picture. "His parents died instantly."

Walking back round the desk, she looked down at the body again: "He lost one hand straight away in the crash. The other was so badly burned; he lost all feeling in it. His life was over… and then she came."

"Ada's mother, Marion Fontaine?" Jill asked, shaking her head at the tragedy, but also because she could see where this was going. Rebecca was right – everything about this business was just sick.

"Part of her good works in the community. Showed up 'like an angel from heaven' at his bedside one night, he said" Rebecca slumped down on a stool near to the body. "Spirited him away here and gave him back his hands. Cell regeneration, tissue replacement – that's the kind of thing they're doing here."

Jill leaned forward: "Are you okay? Don't go on if you're not ready…"

"He loved being able to work again" Rebecca croaked, "but the work… and he… he said the hands didn't feel like they were really his… That's when I met him you see, when he…"

Getting up, Jill crossed over to the body. Bending down, she lifted up a flap of the coat around the hands. The skin about the wrist was horribly scarred – it looked like he'd slashed his wrists, quite recently. Looking at the body, it struck her – that could be Adi, cold and alone, no hope left… She pushed it from her mind. Adi had her to look after her – it would never happen.

She sighed with disgust at the familiar horrors that Umbrella inflicted on everything it touched. Getting up she lifted Rebecca's chin up gently, before putting her arm round her to give her a kind of 'Big Sister' hug.

"I'd be dead if it wasn't for him" Rebecca continued after she'd had some time to compose herself. "He warned me the gas was coming, got me to the… there's a panic room upstairs…"

"I know – we've seen it" Jill nodded, sitting on the desk, sorting the last of the stuff. Rebecca's story had only fuelled her desire to get packed and get gone – she needed to get Ada out of here before some further ill fortune rubbed off on them.

"You have?" Rebecca said, looking up suddenly. "Lydia's still okay, isn't she? She's still there?"

The genuine tone of concern took Jill by surprise, but of course – if she'd been here for a month or more, she must know Lydia... So she was friends with her maybe – things were looking up suddenly.

"Yes! Yes, she's fine! Well, not fine, but maybe you can help us out on this!"

Rebecca looked equally surprised at Jill's sudden animation: "Why… that's why you're here?!"

She looked stunned – Jill supposed she hadn't even considered Ada might be here for such noble reasons: "We need to get her out of here but she's in some kind of coma it looks like. Adi didn't know anything about that – is it new? Is there anything we can give her? Please, if there's anything…"

Rebecca looked over at the door then back at Jill with a kind of awe. Snapping to, she looked much more businesslike than before: "Ah, no, I don't think it is new. From what I hear, she's been like that pretty much since her sister… died."

Jill nodded irritably: what kind of mother would say such and do such things – especially when it caused her youngest daughter to become so sick?

"She's was being looked after by Professor Gold, but honestly, I think she may actually have been making her sick herself" Rebecca continued.

"What?!"

Jill's exclamation of outrage was cut off by a sudden noise from the operating room. In a flash, her gun was out and she was throwing the door open – to be confronted with Ada, who had plainly been listening in.

Holstering her gun quickly, she opened her arms as Ada rushed up to her: "Heyyy, here she is! What are you doing up? You're suppsoed to be keeping ice on that shoulder" she scolded gently.

Ada looked deeply troubled: "Someone _was_ hurting her - all this time..." she managed at last, at which Jill wrapped her in a soft embrace, shushing her softly.

"What makes you think this will help? You got these from her bag – you're sure it was hers?" Rebecca asked, turning the bottles round in the light. She looked at Jill as she said this, though the question was obviously aimed at Ada. It seemed she was unwilling to trust Ada just yet.

Jill put a hand on Ada's arm to preempt any outbursts. "Just tell us – can it help? Or was it causing it or what?"

Without replying, Rebecca selected a thick book from a shelf under the desk and started leafing through it, nodding and muttering to herself. Ada looked edgy and annoyed at her attitude, causing Jill to poke her playfully to calm her down.

"Measured doses… sure. Together, these could produce a catatonic state. She'd only be vaguely aware of her surroundings and would appear much as we see her" Rebecca concluded finally, shaking her head as she looked at the bottles.

"And nobody caught onto this?! I thought you were supposed to be a medic?!" Ada blurted suddenly in an accusing voice.

Jill barely had time to register her girl's outburst before Rebecca angrily defended herself: "_What?!_ I have had some work to do, you know - like trying to stop your mother from killing everyone! If you were so worried, then why didn't _you_…"

"Stop it, both of you!" Jill shouted, leaping in-between them before it had chance to escalate. Grabbing Ada firmly by the arms, she pulled her girl back over to her chair. "Hey! Stop it!" she hissed firmly as Ada fought to get free. Fixing her stare into Ada's eyes, her girl's anger subsided until she hung her head in defeat.

"You're taking her side?" Ada mumbled miserably.

Jill sighed deeply with frustration and ruffled her girl's hair whilst looking back at Rebecca with irritated despair.

"We are _not_ doing this, okay, you two?! We're in the middle of a warzone here and we just can't afford stuff like this. We're all hurting; this whole thing is terrible…" (she said, looking at the body on the floor), "… but we have to find a way past this or we're not going to make it. And I don't want anything to happen to either of you, okay? I'm not taking sides, because we're all on the same side!"

Rebecca leaned back against the desk shaking her head wearily. Jill was about to try again when Ada suddenly stepped forward, brushing apologetically against Jill she did so. Looking at the body and Rebecca, she cleared her throat to speak:

"I… shouldn't have said those things to you – I know it isn't your fault, what happened to Lyd…"

"It's not your fault either, baby" Jill insisted, at which Ada looked over her shoulder with a sad, but thankful smile on her face, but also with a look that said she needed to get this out. Jill nodded for her to continue. Ada turned back to address Rebecca, who whilst she stubbornly refused to look at her, was paying attention it seemed:

"Anyway, like I told you before… this has been a strange time for me and I've had a hard time keeping everything straight. And with all this…" (she motioned to the castle at large) "…going on, I've been holding on pretty hard to how I feel about Liddy and Jill…"

She shook her head like she was annoyed, convinced she wasn't making sense. Jill slipped her arm gently and unobtrusively round her, giving her quiet but firm support. Rebecca hadn't moved, still sitting against the desk, though it seemed she was listening.

"What I'm trying to say is that I did this because I thought he'd hurt Jill or even…" (She brushed into Jill), "…Anyway, that's what I thought and if I was faced with the same situation again, I'd do exactly the same thing" she stated firmly. Rebecca still made no indication of what she felt about this, listening in silence. Ada swallowed hard before continuing:

"And… and whilst we're being candid with each other, you should know that if it had been me who came in earlier and found you with a gun on Jill…" (Jill closed her eyes, knowing what was coming, but kept her grip firm to show she was there for her girl), "… I'd have shot you dead on the spot."

Rebecca nodded lightly, as these terrible, truthful words hung in the air. She looked up, her face a hardened mask. Jill motioned to her to hold off any rebukes and let Ada finish – her girl was certainly not making things easy, but they needed everything out in the open if this was going to work. Unresolved feuds might buy them some time but would tear them apart eventually anyway…

"Their safety means everything to me, so I can't pretend I wouldn't do it... but I know that doesn't make it right." she added in a strained voice. "I am sorry about your friend and how this turned out for you – it isn't fair. But… I just think you're kidding yourself if you think we've had it any easier, is all. But I really am sorry" she finished, leaning into Jill.

Putting her arms round her girl's shivering waist, Jill looked over at Rebecca. 'Please…' she urged silently. She had every reason to be angry - would she come round? This seemed to be answered when Rebecca rose and turning away from them, leaned her hands against the table, sighing. Jill's heart sank as she shook her head:

"I can't come with you" Rebecca said quietly.

Feeling Ada's shoulders drop in despair, Jill struggled to find some argument they hadn't yet used, but it seemed hopeless: "Please. Rebecca… we need to get Lydia out of here. We _need_ your help…" she pleaded.

Rebecca looked up: "That's not what I meant. You're right that this…" (she motioned behind her), "...was just really, really bad luck. I've got no problem with that really – I'm used to it now" she coughed bitterly. "And I've got absolutely no problem with Lydia – she's a complete innocent in all this. I'll whip you up something to get her on her feet, of course I will… But I'm not coming with you - I still have work to do here. My job's not done yet…"

Realization dawned sickeningly on Jill: "Oh… no, come on Rebecca! You _can't_ seriously be thinking of going after this woman on your own?! Who knows what's in here, what experiments they've been doing? You'll get yourself killed…"

"Someone has to!" Rebecca retorted firmly. "As long as these people aren't dealt with, they'll just keep doing it, you know they will. How long before there's an outbreak that can't be contained – what then?"

Jill had heard all these arguments before and they made perfect sense – but she was just so tired of it all, all the evil. She just wanted to get away from all this, just to be with her girl… And yet seeing Rebecca here, so passionate and indignant that those responsible be punished… she found herself hanging her head in shame.

"We let Captain Wesker escape and look what happened - he's ruined all our lives, forcing us to be scared that someday, someone will come looking for us..." Rebecca continued in a weary voice.

This was all too true, but Jill - and Ada, she saw to her delight - couldn't help looking sideways with a smile at this. Ada being sent after her had been the best thing that had ever happened to both of them, after all…

"Someone has to stop these people for good" Rebecca continued, "and it'll have to be…"

"Us" Ada interjected suddenly.

Peering round at her in surprise, Jill saw her girl had a look of nervous determination on her face. It was clear where this was heading now. It had been inevitable really, she reflected. And despite her fatigue at this whole business, she still felt so proud of her girl as she spoke.

"Lydia's in a... coma or something, right?" Ada asked. "And… and she's alone, meaning she can't feed herself, get any water, look after herself at all, yes?" Ada stated, wringing her hands anxiously.

"Well… sort of, yes" Rebecca replied uncomfortably. It was clear she still wasn't thrilled to be speaking directly with Ada, but this was an important subject to all of them.

"And even if you gave us a serum or whatever, we don't know how much to give or what to do if there are complications… but you do" Ada continued.

"Look, I want to help her, but I _told_ you, I have…" Rebecca started to object, although a wavering in her voice made it obvious that she was greatly affected by Ada's rather blunt and uncensored interpretation of the situation.

"Then let us do it!" Ada pleaded. "Let _us_ see to stopping mother and you can go help Lydia. I… I don't have any right to ask you for this maybe, but I give you my word we'll stop her if you'll help us save Lyd…"

Rebecca's seemed stunned and unsure what to say or think. Dazed, she looked over at Jill, as did Ada, the question forming on her lips.

"Hey – what are you… you know you don't need to ask! Am I really going to let you go alone?" Jill chided affectionately. "You know I'm with you until the end - I'm in, of course!" she finished, beaming with pride and taking her girl's hand to squeeze it with encouragement.

"Can you really do it, though?" Rebecca stammered at last. There was still a note of skepticism in her voice: "She's… she's your _mother_ – can you really do it? I'm happy to help Lydia but… but I need this done, so…"

"_We_ can do it – we _will_ do it!" Ada insisted, gripping Jill's hand tight.

Jill looked over at Rebecca, who seemed deeply confused over what to think now: "You can trust me – us. You can trust us this time, Rebecca. We'll get this done for you…" (Both she and Rebecca's eyes darted to the tragic young man's body on the floor). "…I swear to you, we won't let you down" Jill assured her. "I owe you this one anyway. Just please save our girl."

'Besides... revenge isn't a job you should be doing anyway' she added silently. 'Leave that to us.'

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ada asked quietly, nuzzling against Jill as they watched Rebecca pick her way though the barricade. "She's hurting – should we really leave her alone like this? Not that she wants to be around me anyway, I guess…"

"Shh – don't start with talk like that again" Jill scolded.

"But she's practically one of my in-laws now" Ada protested miserably. "What kind of first impression am I making?!"

Jill chuckled: "Clearly you don't know much about STARS. We were one of the most dysfunctional bunches you'd ever meet. Trust me – this was awful, and it'll take her some time to get used to the idea. But you're really one of the family now, baby!"


	20. Chapter 20

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Twenty.**

"What _are_ we doing?" Jill asked suddenly, stopping in her tracks.

Ada looked round at her, slightly confused: "What do you mean?"

Jill's mouth twitched and a delighted grin broke out, causing her to hang her head in embarrassment. She shrugged slightly, careful not to displace Ada.

"Well… we're tired, beaten down, scared by all that's happened, right? I mean, it's not like you ever really get used to all this…"

Ada cuddled her round her chest: "What's the matter baby – you can tell me" she enquired softly, fighting to keep a grin off her own face, now she understood.

"You were singing" Jill stated simply.

Ada shrugged in mock confusion: "So?"

"In the middle of all this, with all we've seen and gone through, you were singing" Jill repeated again, exasperatedly

"You were too!" Ada retorted.

"I was not!" Jill countered, knocking her head lightly against Ada's.

"You were singing along in your head, weren't you? Weren't you?" she said, inclining her head to prevent her girl looking away and causing Jill to redden again, to her immense pleasure.

"You don't think maybe we should… you know, act our ages a bit given the circumstances?" Jill offered, in a tone that suggested she really didn't want to do anything of the sort, but felt obliged to say it as 'the responsible one' in the relationship.

"Well… hmm…" Ada looked away in mock thought. "No!" she finished, kissing Jill impishly on the cheek. "Oh come on – so we're happy… aren't we allowed to be happy?!" she asked joyfully.

Seeing Jill was trying to think of some counter-argument, she got in first: "Come onnn, let's go! We'll die of old age before you get us there!" she continued, draping herself over Jill's shoulder and pretending to be asleep.

"And that's another thing" Jill continued, "Carrying you on my back is all very comforting – especially for you, lazybones! – but it's a _bit_ risky, don't you think? What if something comes, which isn't out of the question, is it? I can't use my hands like this!"

Ada made a snoring sound, pretending not to have heard.

"Adiii, time to wake uuupp" Jill cooed in her ear in a sing-song voice.

Groaning with despair, she cuddled up to Jill, hoping to keep their playful time together going: "Well alright, I agree that your not being able to use your hands is a problem" she started, fighting to keep a straight face, "because…"

"Baby…" Jill warned delightedly, cutting off her filthy remarks before she could voice them.

Sighing loudly with a grin, she accepted defeat. This time together, just the two of them again, had been so wonderful. Try as they might, they just couldn't be anything less than wildly, wildly happy to be with each other after being separated like that. They had a job here still - a terrible job - but after finding each other when it had seemed so hopeless – nothing seemed impossible right now.

_Sighing irritably, he looked down out of the window, at the city moving on the street below. So oblivious, going about their little lives... They who had nothing of greater consequence to do, than feeding themselves like pigs and making their next conquest to brag about to their similarly asinine friends... It was a joke he reflected bitterly, that such people were considered to be worthy of liberty, when men of duty and purpose like himself were trapped in here. _

_Rubbing his temples, he felt rage building inside him and slammed his palm angrily against the window. The bulletproof pane merely juddered unsatisfactorily under this force... his reflection seeming to mock his lack of strength. Just a worn out old guy…With venom, he started to push his palm into the glass, harder and harder..._

"_Sir?"_

_Exhaling loudly, he turned around, fighting down his anger: "Ah, you're back! So, how did it go?" he asked, as if he had no cares in the world._

"_Well..." the younger man responded, looking rather nervously at the window. Impatiently, he inclined his head to the man, indicating that he should get on with it. _

_The younger man straightened in a kind of apologetic salute posture, before sitting down and opening his briefcase: "Well, they agreed to all our terms, on the understanding that we..."_

_The young man stopped in alarm as the table shook violently. Clenching the fist so hard, his nails started to bite into the palm, he fixed the man with a furious glare: "I'm talking about the phone, damn it! My phone – did you get it back or not?" he roared._

_Putting his hands together nervously, the young man was about to speak, but he had already surmised the answer. In fury, he grabbed one of the chairs and hurled it against the wall, smashing it into bits, before turning back to advance on this pathetic failure of a man. _

_He stopped in his tracks as he saw him shakily holding out a small black mobile phone: "I'm sorry sir – they wouldn't budge. But I managed to get your calls routed through to my phone without them noticing. I'm very sorry, Sir!" he explained quickly._

_Looking down at the phone, he felt a kind of calm wash soothingly over him. Loyalty - the greatest commodity known to man… If he had only had more men like this, all this would never have happened. Walking over he accepted the phone and patted the younger man warmly on the shoulder._

"_Good lad, good lad! Now, you were saying about the negotiations…?"_

"Over there looks good – mush!" Ada urged, pointing to a small rest area up ahead. With Jill asking affectionately about what her last slave died of, they took in the area. The stark office, administration feel from before was well and truly gone now. Many of the areas they had just passed though had bare stone walls and floors, although there was still evidence of regular habitation.

This small rest area was one of those – a few armchairs and tables set in a widened part of the corridor. Fashion and cosmetics magazines, were mixed with broadsheet newspapers and a few novels of light reading. What had attracted Ada's attention however, was a silvery swing that was suspended at the far end. In a wheedling voice, she directed Jill to ferry her over to it, hugging her warmly for allowing her to be so cheeky and lazy.

"I haven't used one of these in _so_ long!" Ada purred happily, with no shame whatsoever.

"I don't know whether this is cute or just sad…" Jill commented, kissing her on the back of her head. She sounded greatly amused and entranced at Ada's infectiously giggly mood.

Leaning back into Jill with a grin, she threw her legs out, ready to soar. But as Jill pushed her off, she suddenly jabbed her feet to the floor, skidding to a halt. Shushing Jill as she asked what was wrong, she pricked up her ears… _no_! In the distance she could hear a dreadful, all too familiar sound - a mournful voice, singing...

Jill dropped to her knees in front of her: "What's the matter, baby? Is your shoulder still hurting? Let me look..." she asked urgently, trying to lift the shoulder of Ada's dress.

"No, no, it's not that" Ada protested, waving her off. "It's... there! Can't you hear it?" she asked worriedly.

"Hear... what?" Jill asked, looking round and reaching down to her gun. Ada pointed to the far passage and waited with bated breath as Jill stood up to get a better listen. In the vent, she couldn't have been sure – she'd been alone. Now... was it all in her...

"Oh I hear it now – it's... more singing?! That superior feline hearing strikes again, eh? How did you hear _that_?!" Jill asked, dropping her light-hearted tone as she turned, when she saw Ada really was upset by this.

"Adi, tell me what's the matter" she asked urgently, kneeling back down by her again.

"Come on, baby, don't get yourself all upset - it was so nice to see you happy again. Whatever it is, we'll sort it out; just tell me what's wrong?" she soothed, stroking Ada's cheek tenderly.

Linking her other hand in Jill's, Ada felt the tension of hearing the voice start to fade somewhat... "I heard it before, when I was coming to find you" Ada whispered. "It's her, Jill, it's _her_" she said, hardly daring to raise her voice as she did so.

"_We're close to a deal, but it'll take a few more weeks to finalize... Sir?"_

_He looked up, realizing his impatient tapping had become rather forceful. He waved a hand up in vague apology: "I am listening… It's just all this waiting! Being cooped in here is..." (he sighed loudly in frustration) "…I need to know what's going on - I'm not used to being in the dark like this..."_

_Sighing, he rubbed his hands over his face: "Go on, you were saying...?"_

_The younger man cleared his throat before continuing: "Well, as you know, it's in their interests as well, given that their hands are just as dirty as ours. We are going to have to make some concessions for the time being and most importantly as I was saying just before, they refuse to commit until this current round of questioning is done with. We need to find some way to survive until then. That..."_

_He was cut off abruptly as the phone suddenly lit up with a jazzy modern music jingle. Rolling his eyes in despair at the young man's taste, he snatched it up and hit 'receive'. _

"_Go" he instructed, noting the younger man's anxiety, checking the door for eavesdroppers. Caution with unnecessary paranoia, were essential survival tools that the lad would have to learn to get ahead in this business…_

"_Sir, the Cargo that was en-route in the target area has been redirected as you instructed" a man's voice informed him. He never remembered their names, so he stopped asking, these days… _

_My screen shows that our nearest retrieval and clean-up team will be on-site in just under two hours..."_

"_Two hours?" he sighed with concern._

"_I'm sorry sir; it's the best we can do at this notice" the voice apologized – rather worriedly it sounded to him. Clearly the man knew who he was, at any rate!_

"_Call me when they arrive" he finished, hanging up. ._

Her mouth open in shock, Jill looked round, straining to listen, before beckoning Ada down into her lap. Sitting them both down, Jill slung her arms around her waist, cuddling her softly.

"It's going to be alright – we knew this was coming, sooner or later, right?" she reasoned.

"But why now?!" Ada whined. "We were having such a good time – I… I'm not ready yet!" she finished in a slightly panicky voice.

"Hey, I'm the one who should be worried, not you! I'm the one 'meeting the parents' for the first time! You know: what if she doesn't like me; doesn't think I'm good enough for her daughter, that sort of thing?" Jill chided playfully.

Ada smiled despite her anxiety, grateful at her girl's attempt to lighten the mood. But they had to start facing up to what they were about to do: "Baby, this is serious - we're talking about ki..."

"_Stopping_ her" Jill insisted. Ada stopped, confused at this. "We said we'd stop her and we will" Jill explained "By force if necessary yes, but only if we have to. She's your mother, Adi – it'll be hard to pull the trigger if she doesn't provoke us" Jill said sagely.

Ada shook her head: "You don't need to worry - I can do it! After what she put me through, it won't be a problem..."

"Ah, because you're a hardcore assassin, right – who likes cats and swings and things?" asked Jill, mischievously.

Annoyed that Jill was continuing to trivialize this, Ada made to get up, but Jill pulled her back down firmly. Refusing to meet her gaze, Ada also rejected her girl's attempts to make up with her, until Jill finally took hold of her chin and turned her to face her, as Ada struggled weakly.

"Hey… hey! Calm down, kitty kat! I was just teasing – you really think I'm not livid at what that… woman did to you, what's she done here?! I am, Adi, of course I am!" she assured her, taking her hands and massaging them softly. "When you first told me about her blackmailing you... but she's your mother! It won't be as easy as that and you know it!"

Ada hung her head: "So you don't think I'm strong enough?" If her girl didn't believe she could do this, what chance did she have of convincing herself?!

Jill sighed and pulled her into a hug: "Oh come here, you silly…you're a lot of work, you know that?!" (Ada relaxed apologetically in her arms, blotting out the voice and reproaching herself for taking her tensions out on Jill). "Baby, I've heard you talk about her – it's clear that you still love her…" (Ada shuffled uncomfortably at this thought, but couldn't contradict her). "But whatever happens, we _will_ find a way around this, okay baby girl? I'll be standing right there with you – and if we have to do it... you know I'd do anything, _anything_ for you." Jill declared fiercely, clutching her tightly but with immense care.

Flopping her chin wearily onto Jill's shoulder, Ada pondered her girl's words in silence, trying to sort out her exact feelings towards mother and desperate for just a few more carefree, loving moments with her girl... Wait a minute - _silence_?!

"The singing – it's stopped!" Ada said, sitting up, yelping in pleasant surprise as she was scooped up into a cradle.

"That's our cue, then! You know, I honestly think your mother's going to like me – did I mention that I can play the Grand Piano? What would be a good way to work it into the conversation, do you think...?"

"_Without some kind of delay, I'm not sure we can stall until the other companies commit to financial and legal aid" he continued, a note of worry in his voice._

"_Just ask, son" he said, looking over at him, wearily._

_The younger man seemed to steel himself, before laying down his pen: "Very well Sir, since you ask. You've done so much for me and you know I have nothing but the greatest respect for you..." he began._

"_Get to the point – you don't think I should be doing this, do you?"_

"_Frankly Sir, no I don't. Conducting this operation yourself, and from here of all places! If they find out… it'll be the final nail in the coffin! We have to focus on getting past this week or they'll hang you with this! Let someone else deal with that crazy..."_

_The sentence came to a strangulated end, as leaping up, he seized the young man viciously round the throat. Lifting him one handed out of the chair, he slammed him down across the table, holding him firmly in place by the throat. _

_With a practiced motion, he shook his concealed knife loose - he'd made far too many enemies over the course of his life to ever leave himself unarmed… Placing the tip gently over the young man's heart, he stopped struggling at once, his eyes wide with terror. _

"_She thinks I am the most wicked and vicious man in the world, you know?" He rolled up his left sleeve to reveal an ugly burn mark on the forearm. "Acid... she tried to burn me with acid" he recalled softly. "Is she crazy? Maybe so - or maybe she's right…" he added. Looking down at the knife, he straightened it up – just the slightest pressure would pierce through to the heart..._

"_The lady has asked for my help and I must give it, you understand?" The younger man nodded, fearfully. "I always knew that one day she would ask me to plunge this knife through my own heart – perhaps that day has arrived..." he mused, releasing the younger man who sat up, choking out an apology._

"_There's no need to apologize, my lad. You're right of course, but I can't take your advice, however well-intentioned... Don't speak of her like that again, alright?" he finished forcefully._

"_Would you? choked the young man, accepting a glass of water. "Would you… use the knife on yourself, if she asked you to?"_

_He thought a second before replying: "I don't know – but I pray I will have the chance to find out."_

"I'll think about it – no promises, though" Jill warned, as she carried Ada along.

"You'll really think about it?" Ada pleaded, in the most loving, pathetic voice she could muster.

"Well…it's a fun idea, but don't you think a swing in our bedroom would be a bit…" Jill tailed off, reddening again, but unable to contain a smile.

"A bit… what?" Ada asked naughtily, snuggling in her arms.

Coming to Jill's rescue, the passage ahead terminated, in a piercingly bright gleam. Ada was lowered gently to the floor, whereupon they drew their guns and crept quietly up to investigate. Ada could feel her pulse starting to quicken again – she was near, she could feel it. Sensing her anxiety, Jill reached back and took her hand, tenderly leading her forwards.

Approaching the light, they saw that two giant pillars formed a doorway of sorts at the passage's end, leading into what looked to be a very large room indeed. As the corridor was extremely dark in comparison to this room, they managed almost to reach this opening, before the light made it dangerous to proceed any further.

The room _was_ huge, towering up to where yet another great chandelier glowed with a fierce blazing light. Framed with pillars that supported a gallery around the middle, the room was circular, furnished with a deep red carpeting that glowed luridly - uncomfortably like blood in the intense light. Largish circular tables stood around the edges, set it seemed for dinner, golden candelabras flaming and glinting with a rich (but rather cold, Ada couldn't help but feel), sheen.

Enormous curtains of deep blues and purples hung down at intervals (one had been pulled back from the entrance they were near, suggesting that they might be covering other exits). There were no obvious exits, as the walls of the room were nearly all sheets of glass, forming giant mirrors that reflected myriads of similar but slightly different worlds.

In the centre of this bizarre mixture of ballroom, coliseum and church, one of the masked girls stood, shivering and sobbing, being consoled tenderly by another figure... a figure she could not mistake.

Standing there in a long red dress, on the blazing carpet, she seemed to have erupted obscenely from the sea of blood. Facing away from them, nursing and cooing to the clearly terrified girl, her features were obscured from them, despite the multitude of perspectives reflecting endlessly in the mirrored walls. The air around her seemed to shimmer, making it seem as if she was swaying like a writhing serpent, twisting about the hapless girl.

Jill turned to her with the question – she just about managed to nod her confirmation; it was her mother. She took a deep breath – Jill had been right; she wasn't sure she could really do this. Listening to whispers of encouragement from Jill, she had just about steeled herself to take her girl's hand and lead them in, when the mirrors suddenly erupted with activity.

In the endlessly reflecting depths, countless red garbed figures snapped up their arms as one, a crimson cabal looming over their unsuspecting victims with hands that flashed with a deadly gleam... But as the blades descended, just one cry was heard; the rest screamed soundlessly... but Ada could swear she had heard them all...

Her own cry of dismay was lost as she was thrust backwards into the darkness against the wall. Her mouth open wide, she could give no voice to her appalled anger as Jill pressed her hand over it, shushing her frantically. Furiously and miserably she fought to free herself, trying to push past Jill, until finally her girl clamped her mouth firmly to hers, pinning her to the wall with pacifying, consoling love. Thrashing feebly, her mind haunted with illusory victims and screams, she gradually succumbed to her girl's tender ministrations.

Clasping her for support, she let Jill smother her horror until finally there was nothing left of it but a dull sickening aching over what she had just seen. Tears forming, she shook her head, burying it in her girl's chest.

"_All rise! Court is now in session: The case of the United States Government versus Umbrella Pharmaceuticals Incorporated - the honorable Judge Lanza presiding..."_

"_Be seated" the judge ordered. Waiting for the hubbub to die down, they ran through the usual protocol, until finally he turned to the prosecution bench: "Mr Galen, before the recess, you called on one of the principal defendants in this case to testify. How did your talks proceed – do we have movement?"_

_The Prosecutor rose from his seat: "We do, your Honor. The defendant at this time, Sir Ozwell Spencer, has consented with the full agreement of his defense counsel, to take the stand when it please your Lordship."_

_With the court breaking into loud whispers and murmurs and without waiting for them to be gaveled into silence, he stood up and walked with dignity to the witness box. Sitting down as the judge restored order, he saw the bailiff approach with a copy of 'the good book' in his hands. _

"_Place your left hand on the bible, raise your right hand towards God" instructed the bailiff._

_Rather hesitantly, (for which he felt rather foolish), he reached out – it felt cold to his touch. _

"_Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" the bailiff asked, every syllable honed to monotonous perfection…_

_As he was about to answer, a slight tremor ran through the room, causing much alarm to the occupants. The doors to the courtroom suddenly flew open and screams could be heard from outside._

"_A…A bomb!! There… there was an explosion, just down the street from here! It's terrible – they're bodies everywhere! We have to evacuate the building at once!"_

_The end of the man's warning had been almost completely drowned out as the room erupted into total chaos. People scattered this way and that, leaving him holding the bible alone, as people raced in terror of their miserable lives._

_Standing in a daze by his seat at the defense table, the young man looked up at him in horror as distant sirens wailed, accompanied with the sounds of the terrified, stampeding people.  
_

"_Are we being attacked? Do we know who did it?!" they heard the judge shouting as he was led off by security._

_Returning the young man's gaze, he inclined his shoulder to the retreating judge to indicate he would answer the question. He looked down at the bible, shrugged and smiled before looking straight at his trembling defense counsel: "I Do."_

_Screams echoing through the corridors, the young man sank into his chair, covering his face with his hands and shaking uncontrollably – it seemed he might not be cut out for all this after all. _

"Shh, shh! You have to be quiet, baby!" Jill whispered, cuddling her and pulling her down into a crouch.

Through her girl's arms, Ada could see some of the mirrors, see her mother cradling and stroking the girl, now slumped lifelessly in her arms. They were the ones mother had forced her to endure so much pain for all these years. The sacrifices she had asked of her, all for them... how could she do this to them now?! It was all so pointless – she felt like she had been stabbed herself... she couldn't stand it... they had to end this.

Peering up, she saw Jill was shaking her head in bitter recognition of such evil acts, though she put on a brave face when she saw Ada was looking. Their gaze meeting, they silently exchanged comfort and strength. Standing to face the room, they steeled themselves - it was time.


	21. Chapter 21

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Twenty One.**

Skirting around the edge of one of the tables, they approached, looking cautiously about for danger, but always with one eye on the centre. The girl cradled in Mother's arms could almost have been sleeping at first glance – from here, the blood was lost in the red of mother's dress and the carpeting. But the mirrors revealed this lie, showing the girl's white dress, stained an ugly, dark red where the wound lurked and yawned.

Apparently heedless of their advance, Mother was singing softly into the dead girl's ear. Ada shivered at this disturbing sight, slowing her advance as a wave of nausea overtook her. With the mask propped against Mother's shoulder, it almost seemed like the girl herself was singing... The candles, mirrors and those terrible staring eyes of the mask, all gave the scene a kind of otherworldly aspect.

She blinked as the confusion of reflections and the glare of the lights on the carpet made the whole scene before her... shimmer, like a mirage. It was like she couldn't believe that her mother could possibly be here, finding it easier to believe that she had just stepped out of one of these mirrors – she noticed that they seemed to only dully reflect mother's image in the light... Would a bullet fired from here even reach her... or would it be lost in this strange chaos?

She had to concentrate, keep this as simple and professional as possible. It occurred to her that usually, she would never settle for an ID this sketchy – the target facing away and though she knew her well of course, she hadn't seen her in person for years. Moreover, as the head of a cosmetics empire, Mother's look had always changed so dramatically over the years, that many had speculated it was several different people...

But she remembered that regal, stately posture. Her mother was a far more visually... 'commanding' presence than she was. And the feeling she was getting was unmistakeable - the tension, that unconscious straightening of the back and adjusting of the clothes; the fact that she was treading with such slow, measured respect... She realized that she had unconsciously assumed her 'best behaviour...'

Reaching a hand to steady herself on the table, she saw Jill looking over with concern. She pushed back up and nodded that she was fine... sort of. But what were they going to do? Mother was armed, she'd just killed someone and yet... Panic started to grip her as she realized she couldn't even conceive of pulling the trigger at this point. The whole idea seemed too far-fetched, like something that people spoke of but wasn't really possible. She looked at the poor girl draped over her, how insane it was, of all the pain her mother had caused her over the years... but she couldn't imagine really doing it.

As she stood, wracked with indecision, the eerie rhyme mother was singing floated through the air to her:

"_I hear you, my children; your laughing and weeping,_

_For I am awake, whilst the world, it lies sleeping._

_If some hate me or love me or are ignorant of me,_

_I care not my children; I am closest to thee..."_

Upon hearing this apparent confirmation of her mother's love for these masked girls over her and Lydia, Ada's blood began to boil. She was shaking with indignation; there was so much she wanted to say, so many ways she should curse this woman who had hated, twisted and ultimately almost destroyed her. Clenching her fists angrily, she caught sight of Jill, gesturing to her to calm down, to take deep breaths... She nodded, trying to follow her girl's advice – she had to get it together and make contact...

The word seemed to be catch in her mouth, consumed by the sheer aura of her mother. Seeing her there so busy with the girl, she felt very small again, when she'd played about Mother's desk whilst she was working. Now, as then, it seemed unconscionable for anyone to talk in the great lady's presence when she was busy...

"Mother" she said simply, quietly triumphant as the sound split the silence.

Hearing this, her mother stiffened, clutching the girl still more protectively to her. Rather than look round however, she gazed straight ahead into one of the mirrors at their reflections. Spotting Ada, she suddenly emitted a hiss of purest outrage. Rising defensively to her full height, the girl's masked face fell horribly to one side as if she also was inspecting them with interest.

"Why have you come here, Devil child?" a voice lamented out of the haze, full of such bitter loathing that Ada unconsciously stepped back. It was a voice she knew well, one that had never failed for more than 15 years now, to blame her for every wrong it had ever suffered.

"You were not welcome here before all this" (she lifted the girl about her, stroking her hair soothingly), "Why would you imagine this has changed now? Return to the filthy darkness which your kind inhabits and stain no more our lives with your wickedness" she spat, the air about her seeming to foam in accordance with this judgement.

Ada's head fell as she wilted under these familiar but still hurtful curses. It was no less than she'd expected however; her mother's hatred of her was hardly breaking news. Receiving it first-hand again though...

Balling her free hand into a fist and tightening her grip on her gun, she looked up in defiance: "No, no I won't! How can you talk to me this way, how can you possibly think this is my fault?" she protested. "Aren't you even going to look at me?! Is this all I get from you?!" she condemned, viciously. She could sense Jill moving closer to her, clearly alarmed at her rather hysterical tone.

The girl's mask seemed to smirk in the light: "You wish for respect, a mother's love and forgiveness? You who have wrought such misery here, _dare_ ask for that?" she shrieked incredulously.

Ada looked over at Jill who was staring with appalled distaste at the scene before her. Seeing Ada was looking, she smiled with a hard face, urging her on with a 'don't you dare blame yourself, little lady!' look on her face.

"I... I don't ask for your forgiveness, because I didn't do this!" Ada replied, raising her head with empowered resolve.

"Your hands are stained with the blood of my angels" snorted her mother, contempt dripping from her voice. She appeared dismissive of even having to talk to her, which was driving her absolutely crazy!

"So are yours if you care to look! Look at them or look or me – either way you'll see the truth! I didn't release the virus – _you_ did! I didn't hurt these girls – _you_ did! "

"Enough! Silence, you filthy, evil child!" her mother screeched suddenly, almost turning around, but flinching as Jill suddenly stormed forward:

"Stop speaking to her like that, you old witch! What kind of sick game is this to you anyway? You've killed a young girl for God's sake! You've left one daughter in a coma upstairs and poured Adi full of so much poison that she started to believe your bullshit!" she shouted angrily, rather spectacularly overcoming her nerves at this strange scene and the fact she was as she put it 'meeting the parents'...

This done, she walked back over, positioning herself firmly between Ada and her mother. Ada moved up and brushed into her in deep gratitude and awe – she'd never seen someone stand up to her like that before...

Indeed, Mother seemed rather shocked herself. Shying away as Jill had approached, she had clutched at the girl so hard during the tirade; that her head had shot up, and rolled rather sickeningly back. Frantically, she resettled the girl at her shoulder, kissing her hair in apology. As she did this, she began to talk distractedly to herself and to the girl. Ada lifted a hand to her mouth in dismay...

"Is this how it is to be? How can this be a just end for us?! My angels who were to sweep the world in love, brought low by such wretched creatures, clothed in sin and unrepentant in their squalid, shameful lust for each other? Are we to suffer at hands such as these, after all we have worked for? Where is our salvation?!" she cried aloud. "Where are you?" she sobbed to herself, rocking the girl in her arms.

"Where were _you_ when I needed you?!" Ada screamed, stubbornly ignoring Jill's attempt to pacify her. It was outrageous that Mother still felt she was the victim in all this - and even more unjust that part of her did actually feel sorry for her...

"What about Lydia and father too?!" she went on, desperate to remain on the offensive. "Don't we count; don't you care about any of us?! You _swore_ to me that you wouldn't hurt them! I let you treat me like that - like something filthy and disgusting and what did I get?!" she cried.

She felt faint, like something was pushing through the air towards her, warding her off, assailing her for daring to speak such blasphemies.

"You were disgusting" her mother calmly replied suddenly, looking up. The girl seemed to confirm this, burying her mask in Mother's shoulder, rather than face looking at a creature like Ada... Ada felt herself tremble at the sheer certainty and lack of compassion in her voice.

"Do you have any idea of the shame I felt over what I had given birth to, when I had you? I tried to care for you, child but you were evil -I saw it inside you..." she explained, spitting the words out as if any mention of Ada was corrosive...

"Alright, that's enough!" snarled Jill, levelling her gun at the spectre before them. Looking back at Ada, she motioned with her head for her to leave. Ada took a deep breath, shaking her head desperately - she had to listen; it was the only way she could convince herself to do this... She walked up and pushed the protesting Jill politely but firmly behind her.

"...And yet I couldn't find the strength to do what was necessary..." her mother continued in a voice that seemed appalled, dirty to even have to think about her, her dress flaming red in judgement. "The love I felt for you was the worst of all curses, but in time, your actions allowed me to cast this burden aside."

"You thought loving me was a curse? Even when I was young But I thought..." Ada stammered, feeling as though her knees would give way at any moment before Jill caught her, helping her against the table.

"Don't listen to her, baby!" Jill pleaded. "Listen to me! Tell me to do it and I... I will, right now! Please, I can't bear to see you do this to yourself!" Jill pleaded earnestly. Ada waved her off, but held onto her arm this time for support.

Her anger and betrayal had skyrocketed in the last minute or so, but her actual ability to do the deed was fading fast. In her mind, she still saw the kindly, loving mother of old, singing her to sleep, carrying her about with her as she worked – had that all been a lie too?

"Your actions helped me to let go of whatever love I had for you, girl!" her mother continued with remorseless, triumphant venom. "It was work I knew you would excel at, and time after time over these years, I have seen my opinion of you confirmed, until finally one blessed day, I awoke with nothing in my heart for you, but the contempt that is all you are due... "

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" she heard Jill screaming as if from far away. Collapsing weakly against her, she tried to stand but could find no energy... She sounded so sure... so sure she was something wicked...

"I... I have to do this. I...

She felt Jill press her close, clamping her hands around her ears: "Don't listen to her, baby! Just tell me what you want me to do! Stop doing this to her!"

But Ada could still hear the words, like poison seeping in... see the masked girl snuggling victoriously against Mother.

"But my angels saved me" her mother continued, nuzzling the girl's body. "We were so happy here... I was happy again. I, who had birthed such evil had created something wondrous! Just as that vile plague spread its monsters, my angels would carry their goodness with them also. The world could have been such a better, happier place than the pit of sickening depravity it is now..."

Rocking slowly, she stroked the girl's hair consolingly and apologetically: "We were almost there... I would have found a way to make you better. We just needed more time... The only thing I can do for you now is to speed you on your way..."

At this, she looked up at the mirror where Ada was reflected: "Why did you do this to us?" she demanded in a strained, furious voice. "Could you not stand to see them usurp you? _They_ were my children, not you! You doomed us all..." she finished with sad disgust.

"No... that's not true" Ada whimpered in a muffled voice into Jill's chest. She'd just wanted the pain to stop, to be free. But she couldn't deny the suffering here... She thought of the girls from before, the virus eating away at them, whilst she was free and healthy... Could the girls here... could they really have been the start of something better - had she done any of this out of jealousy, denying the world something it desperately needed?

Suddenly Jill's face appeared in front of her, tears in her eyes but smiling with love. Grief stricken as she was, Ada couldn't help but smile confusedly back.

"I think on reflection, if we are going to have one, I'll need to install it myself – the swing I mean" Jill stated matter-of-factly as Ada frowned in confusion. "I mean, I can't imagine what people would think if I asked them to help put it up..." she added.

Swallowing hard, Ada burst out with an incredulous laugh and clung to her girl, feeling her love wrapping protectively about her. The real world started to come back to her, everything she was close to having, the life waiting for them outside...

"Well, it's probably for the best..." she agreed, wiping the tears from her own eyes. "If anyone came in and asked you 'where do you want it?' in our bedroom, they wouldn't leave in one piece after I was through with them" she said, causing them both to giggle with relief.

"Ask her to look at you again" Jill soothed, stroking her hair. "Your suffering matters – you matter and she knows it" she added, kissing her on the forehead and moving aside. Through the haze, Ada could see her mother looming in triumphant self flagellation. With Jill supporting her however, she took a step forward, then another and another.

"What are you doing? Get back! Get away from me, you _disgusting_..."

"I'm not disgusting" Ada stated with confidence this time. "Look at me and you'll see… I did what you asked, Mother; became that person for you. I became that person - I wasn't that way to begin with and in my heart I never was. I didn't disobey you to spite you or hurt them – I just couldn't live with the pain you made me bear anymore. I shut it away like you shut me away, but it was killing me"

Holding up a hand, her mother seemed to be trying to block her reflection's view of her now. Stopping only a few paces from her, she thought of that lonely, loveless creature she had been. Someone who had crushed herself away inside to try and save her family, but who had also secretly hoped for something she would never receive...

"You were right about me being jealous of them, Mother" she confessed. "I was trying to save Lydia and father, I wanted that so badly and I told myself that was the only reason. But part of me did what you asked, just because you asked me to - because I loved you and I wanted you to love me. It wasn't why I stopped – it was why I continued so long! That just maybe one day, you'd want me back... I wanted my whole family back."

With Mother rocking her girl in silent, perhaps stunned thought over this, she felt Jill take her hand and lace her fingers through hers supportively. A squeeze spoke of the immense pride Jill was feeling, almost lifting Ada off the ground. Releasing her hand in warning however, Jill indicated that her mother had produced her knife again... they were getting near the end now.

Following Jill's idea, she moved to aim her gun at Mother, but found herself staring down at it, unable to decide what to do. In her dreams she had just pulled the trigger, but could she really do it? Rebecca's warning returned to her – could Mother really be allowed to live, knowing what she might do both in the future, but also to her, Jill and the remaining girls now? Did she even have the strength to do this anyway, now she had admitted she still loved her?

Unable it seemed to face herself or Jill and Ada in the mirrors now, her mother was simply clinging motionless to the girl, the knife hanging rather loosely in her hand. The girl seemed to return the embrace, her mask strangely peaceful there against her shoulder... she couldn't do this to them.

"Mother... I... I'm going to leave soon with Jill and Lydia, and we won't be coming back. I belong with Jill now. So you've got your wish -I'll leave and you'll never have to see or hear from me again. But we can't leave it like this..."

She took another step forward, causing Jill some alarm as she moved to within striking distance of the knife. She had to try though – this might be the last chance... "Mother, please... your girls need you, perhaps even more than you know. I'm... not sure I can take you away from them... I don't want to... because I know what it feels like to be without you."

As they approached, her mother had been studiously avoiding their gaze in relative silence to her earlier shrieking curses. At this last statement however, she looked first at Ada's reflection, then down at the girl in her arms. With a pained, groaning cry that echoed through the room, she sank slowly to the floor, bending over the girl's body, sobbing uncontrollably.

"My girls... my angels...what have I done to you... what have I done...?"

She felt a sudden pressure at her arm. Jill moved in front of her, shaking her head. Looking down she saw that her gun was still ready. Clearly she hadn't resolved all her issues with Mother... Gently, Jill eased the gun from her grasp, stroking her hair sadly but proudly. Ada motioned at the knife which had slipped from Mother's hand onto the floor. With her mother still sobbing over the girl's body, Jill bent to pick it up.

It was so quiet... only Ada heard it. Her feline hearing coming through again perhaps...

"Poisoned... poisoned against me... because of you... because of _you!"_

In that moment they saw it – a face of truly heavenly beauty that stole your breath away, divine in every sense... but also a visage that was shot through with such corrosive hatred and darkness that the soul seemed to scream at how distorted and vicious it could become... It was a face impossible to describe or forget... but that somehow managed to be of secondary concern to her.

As the ringing of the shot died down, Ada was already wrapped about her girl, pistol smoking in her hand. Jill had leapt aside at her call, trusting completely in her at a moment's notice. Although now nursing a nasty gash across her hand, she was fine however and had drawn her own gun. Instinctively they had crushed together, two souls trying to inhabit the same space in times of danger. They relaxed their weight into each other, too relieved for words...

Then it began...

Kneeling away from them, clutching her wounded shoulder, her mother was screaming with an awful, screeching, devastated lamentation – she had seen her reflection, her _true_ reflection in the mirror at last. Clawing at her face in appalled horror, she somehow managed to wrench her eyes away and rip the mask from the girl on the floor, staggering jerkily to her feet, pressing the mask to her face, crying out in a terrible voice.

Neither Jill nor Ada moved a muscle, unwilling to leave the other's side, staring in horror at the scene unfolding before them. Slicked with blood, the girl's face and hair seemed to darken, even as the light falling on her mother caused her to shine with an unpleasant gleam. She seemed new, reborn…"We... we have to... I don't know if I can!" Ada whispered, terrified that the answer might be that she in fact could…

Jill seemed to rally at this and was nodding when she suddenly jumped forward and shoved Ada back bodily. Alarmed, Ada looked up and saw two large shapes peering out of the darkness on the balcony overhead. With terrible roars, two huge scaly creatures leapt to the floor, right next to her mother.

A scream died in her mouth, uncertain as to whether it should be a scream of warning or encouragement. Her mother however, swung about, the girl's mask she now wore, marred with a mocking bloodstain smile smeared across it.

Jerkily she bent down and scooped up the girl's body as the creatures seemed to nuzzle and fawn at her. Swinging about she caught sight of herself in the mirror and departed, her terrible laughter echoing about the room as the creatures advanced.

"_Her voice was so lovely , her plight so needful_,

_that the devils and demons from hell did heed her,_

_Crashing and roaring, they flocked to her banner,_

_Hailing and calling and singing hosanna."_

"You... wouldn't happen to have a grenade launcher in that purse, would you?" Jill managed, shunting her backwards. "Adi, come on baby, I need you! Are you alright?"

Ada slipped her arm round her girl's waist: "If I get both of them, we have the swing and I get a pair of those fuzzy cat ears, deal?" she said, kissing her on the cheek.

**End of Disc One – Please insert Disc 2 – lol!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Twenty Two.**

Uttering low growls, the two creatures – 'Hunters' as Umbrella designated them - split up, pacing around them in a wide circle. Hideous things, hugely muscled with scaly, lizard-like bodies, they had been deadly foes during her escape from the mansion, Jill remembered. One had almost slashed her head clean off her body before Barry had put a magnum round through its brain. Looking down at her 9MM, she decided that she'd need a better plan here...

With each of them keeping their eyes squarely on one of the loathsome beasts, Jill felt Ada pressing up against her back (as far as her bag and shotgun would allow... shotgun, no, still not good enough really...). Her girl felt understandably tense and jittery.

"Don't..." Jill warned her, resisting the urge to squeeze the trigger on her own gun as her creature hissed and feinted at her. They seemed smarter than before – Umbrella has probably been burning the midnight oil...

"Okay – it's you: tell me what we're doing" Ada agreed smartly.

"I tell you what to do, so you can win the bet – that's fair!" Jill laughed tensely... think!

In the mirrors, it seemed as if a hundred beasts were pacing and circling just beyond the panes... but that could help...

"Okay, we're going for leg shots to the one in front of you" Jill whispered. "And when I say... duck and cover, got it baby? You got it?!" she snapped impatiently, bumping against her girl to wake her up.

"Duck and Cover, yes Ma'am!" Ada blurted testily, bumping back, causing Jill to choke back a laugh.

"Okay... go!" she shouted, whipping round, squeezing off a round whilst reaching down to unhook it. Her shot and several from Ada exploded bloodily about the legs of the Hunter, causing it to stagger sideways at the volley, though they were mostly little more than pin pricks to its tough skin. As she fired her first shot, a roar from behind her signalled that hers had started its attack...

"Now baby, Duck and Cover!" she yelled, whirling about and hurling the Flashbang at the floor. Dropping into a crouch, eyes down and arms over her head and ears, she almost collapsed into a gibbering heap as the world around her exploded in sound and fury, the reflected light blazing at her tightly clamped eyelids.

She felt rather than heard a tremendously heavy thump land near her - her ears were ringing painfully, though she had avoided the worst. Swaying to her feet, she almost tripped over Ada who was similarly disorientated. One of the Hunters lay sprawled nearby, struggling to raise itself, shaking its head furiously, obviously blinded. The other had retreated back, crouching to protect its wounded legs and also seemingly sight-impaired.

Seeing Ada start in their direction, she lunged forward, seizing her arm and tugging her viciously along with her as she turned to run. Ada pulled back and she turned, barely able to hear her girl through the ringing:

"... while they're down!" she made out.

"No – they're too tough; we don't have time now!" Jill screamed, yanking Ada up (amid much muffled protesting) into a cradle, before racing away from the stricken creatures, her girl squirming in her arms.

Seeing one of the tables looming ahead, she leapt up onto it, grunting with the weight and effort and shouting to Ada as she went: "Your rapel gun, baby - the balcony!" She indicated above them, before her heart sank as she remembered...

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it!" Ada pleaded, indicating the loop of wire on her shoulder. Just perfect... breaks all her toys and asks for new ones...

Snapping back round, she saw one of the Hunters had recovered enough to drunkenly spot them. Roaring a challenge, it crouched in readiness to spring after them, its huge claws ripping into the carpet like it was plunging into bloody flesh. Hopping down off the table, Jill dived under it, bracing her shoulder against the wood and lifting it slightly to test the weight. She looked over at Ada, waiting for the go...

Ada fired off a few rounds, probably to goad it into attacking... she could hear it padding closer, closer... get it right baby or we're done... what was taking so... there was the nod!

"Heeeavvvve!!"

Roaring with effort, she pushed the table up as Ada leapt forward. With a shuddering jolt and the sound of splintering wood as a claw shot straight through between them, the creature slammed at tremendous velocity into the other side, unable to stop its leap mid-flight. Not waiting to see if it had been brained, they continue heaving until the table collapsed over on top of it in a confused mess.

Her girl gasping for breath and scanning the room, Jill snatched the cable from her shoulder and sent the hook sailing up and over the balcony, where it found good purchase.

"Go!" she shouted, pulling her girl to her and thrusting the cable into her hands, readying her shotgun on the fixed strap in case anything moved. Realizing that Ada was dawdling, she turned to see what was wrong and received a deep kiss that forced her back a step. Pulling away, her girl then started to scramble up the line, but not before Jill had smacked her lightly on the behind...

With Ada disappearing over the railing overhead, it was her turn. Testing the line, she wasn't sure...

"Jill - the other one's coming!" she heard Ada scream suddenly, firing off rounds to a target obscured from Jill behind the wrecked table.

Jumping up and grabbing the cable, she started to climb, hearing the thing stomping straight at her and howling in pain under the barrage from Ada. Feeling the tension in the wire, she found she was right - she'd have to lose the bag... Air-kicking back, she unclipped it, using the added momentum as it fell away, to aid her as she threw her legs out forward and tucked up... just as the creature burst through the remains of the table, barrelling forward and slicing up the air when she had just been!

With Ada screaming at her to hurry and forcing herself not to look down at the storm of claws and fangs below, she clambered up as fast as possible, gaining the balcony railing at last. Pulling herself into a standing position, she saw Ada move to help her over... Move!

Heeding her girl's cries, she ducked sideways along the outside edge of the railing, slipping slightly as something smashed down with great force right next to her. Losing grip with her right hand, she swung about to face the room, holding on to the railing for dear life with her left. Just near to her, one of the beasts had landed, one claw crushing into the rail, the other sweeping up to strike her. She saw the jaws gaping in triumph, the claws glinting in the light...

BOOM!

Another deafening sound close by, was followed by an unearthly gurgling cry and a terrible snapping and cracking of wood. Its claws having passed inches from her face as it fell, a crash from below told of the creature's new location. Coming to terms with the fact she still had a face, she was only vaguely aware as she was seized and dragged unceremoniously head-first over what was left of the railing. Gasping for breath, she saw Ada leaning over her, pulling at her arm and shouting.

"Get up! Come on, get up, will you? Will you...?"

Nodding in agreement and motioning her to calm down, Jill staggered up, almost collapsing forward through the hole in the railing.

"Be careful!" she thought she heard Ada admonish her. Her world was full of jaws and claws sweeping at her at present...

"I'm... I'm... That's mine!" she spluttered, indicating the shotgun, which had been 'pickpocketed' just now it seemed, b y Ada.

"Oh, I'm sorry - here!" Ada apologised, moving to hand it back, causing Jill to fill with warmth once again. She shook her head at her distressed girl, and gave her a quick hug instead. They could do this... they were going to do this.

Hearing movement from below, she knew it was time to move. Scanning about, she saw the gallery ran in a complete circle, punctuated by small 'towers' at either end, presumably housing the stairs. The far end from them was slightly raised however, forming into what looked like a private box at the opera. Taking her girl's hand, she led them quickly round the edge towards it...

"How many? Still two?" she called, recovering her breath with gulps of 'fresh' air.

"I don't think I killed it" Ada admitted in a pained voice. "I... up there!"

Following her pointing finger, Jill sighed heavily, interposing herself as one of the creatures (the other that hadn't just been shotgunned) skidded to a halt ahead of them. As they readied their guns, also keeping a look out for its partner, they noticed it wasn't advancing however. Instead it hung about in the archway, sliding half in and half out, like it was taking cover.

"It's waiting for the other one" Jill muttered, looking around. A flash of green on the opposite side of the gallery marked the other beast leaping up. It'd be coming; probably... not them too!

"Oh _come on_!!" Ada yelled angrily. Kissing Jill quickly on the cheek, she sat up on the railing, kicking off her shoes and standing, balanced perfectly. She turned to Jill, shaking her head in great annoyance: "Cover me, baby. Everyone keeps _stealing_ my moves! Why can't they get their own?!"

With that, she made to run along the railing's length, clearly aiming for a large, armour clad goddess statue whose torso jutted out of the wall in-between sections of gallery. The other Hunter, bleeding profusely, hissed loudly from its vantage point, swaying on top of the chandelier.

The other Hunter also hissed... in reply was that? It was calling for the other one – Adi! Affirming this thought, the first Hunter launched out from the archway, cannoning forward at Jill, but winding to swipe at Ada as she ran past.

Jill bolted forward, her brain alive with activity... gun would be useless... Adi has the shotgun but she's relying on you... what would Chris do...? Dropping her gun to the floor, she ripped out her survival knife as she ran, spinning round in a wide arc...

A piercing cry split the air. For a second Jill thought it was her Hunter, but then caught sight of the second one flying back through the air, landing on the chandelier which promptly ripped from its fastenings and plummeted to the ground.

She had no time to celebrate her girl's victory however - her legs braced, muscles straining, she had stopped the creature's arm dead in its tracks, sinking the blade in just below the elbow. The beast seemed confused as to what had happened, still straining as it was to complete its attack, though its target was long gone. Dimly, it peered over at her...

With a screaming roar, it wrenched its arm free with a flex of its gigantic muscles, sending Jill reeling backwards, bumping into some kind of cabinet or table. A screeching snarl was accompanied by a deadly thrust with its other hand... which improvising hastily, Jill jarringly blocked and pushed away with a candlestick grabbed from behind her. This dashed to the floor, she was out of options and weapons – her gun was on the floor, the knife still in the thing's arm...

A sickly... popping, _splotching _sound was followed by a further scream... but this time it _was _one of pain and it _was_ from the beast before her – the thing was thrashing about, blood pouring from its right eye, or where its right eye had been. Small pock marks around the wound suggested... she looked over at the archway and saw Ada standing with her pistol smoking.

Wasting no time, Jill lunged round, dodging the flailing limbs of the wounded beast and wrenching the knife free. Circling round its back, she saw her opening and dived in on the wound with her knife sinking the blade straight into the exposed flesh and pressing down with her whole body weight. As the creature howled and made to shunt her away, she pressed back to back with it, hooking her leg in its leg, pushing, shoving, levering the blade further and further down into the eye socket, its claws flashing around trying to find her, but more and more feebly now.

"Jill, move out!" she heard.

Diving away she shouted out despairingly: "No baby – there's no need!"

A muffled wet sound of flesh ripping apart, reported the shotgun's pellets forcing their way through the back of the creature's neck... shortly followed the terrible screeching of metal as in its death throes the creature bit down, chomping the shotgun with a very final sounding grind of metal. It keeled over, utterly dead.

Staggering up, Jill saw that Ada had been knocked off her feet by the kickback – obviously not a shotguns person... Not that she was now, either she reflected ruefully, looking at her faithful but defeated firearm.

"I've... done it again, haven't I?" Ada stammered. "I keep breaking everything you give me..." she murmured, head hung in shame.

Smiling, Jill reached down to help her up, her good humour cheering her girl right up. As she did so however, an awful roar from below told them it wasn't over – the other one was still alive! Reacting quickly, Jill scooped Ada up onto her back and set off at a run, making for the box again.

Her girl was clinging tightly to her, shaking... with excitement. Looking at her in wonder, Jill was kissed joyfully on the cheek – her girl was practically glowing with pleasure. And she knew why – they were together and that made all this quite fun!

Its muscles slackening at last, the beast gave off one final gurgle before slumping forward. Readjusting their feet in the small of its back, they nodded to each other and gave one final violent pull... no resistance.

Satisfied, Jill loosed her hold on the wire, and pushed out with her foot, sending the Hunter crashing face first to the floor. Wearily, she produced her knife and set about checking but it soon became obvious that they had pulled the wire most of the way through the thing's giant neck.

Feeling an urge to just keel over herself and sleep, she saw her girl had already done so, lying in an exhausted heap on the floor of the box. Sitting down next to her, she lowered herself onto one elbow, leaning over to nuzzle her in congratulations.

"That wasn't some priceless antique, last played by the Queen of England or something, was it?" she asked, taking hold of the wire strings , Ada still had in her hand and indicating the rather sad, naked Harp nearby.

"Probably, knowing our luck" agreed Ada, playing with her hair. "Maybe we can buy Mothe... hey, wait – our bet! I win, don't I?" she blurted happily, sitting up.

Jill frowned, looking over at the hideous corpse: "We got that one together, one end of the wire each!"

"But I shotgunned it twice and took out its legs as it came in!" protested Ada.

"I got us to this... what is this, a music box or something?" Jill countered, motioning to all the instruments piled about neatly. "_And_ the wire was my idea... but I guess I could say the shotgun blasts tip it" she said, giving in as her girl sulked moodily.

Ada was practically levitating: "Really? Remember your promise- we had a deal, right?" Moving over she sat into Jill's lap and pushed her down, beaming.

"Oh! Look at your hand!" Ada whined, holding it to her cheek before leaning down to kiss her – they were both so happy to have made it through alive and... Ohh God... Her girl was still kissing her softly but deeply, rubbing her hands lovingly along her sides... they shouldn't...

It was a close run thing, but catching the disgusting body of the Hunter out of the corner of her eye finally made up her mind. She leaned her forehead apologetically against her girl's, causing her to slump with a frustrated groan onto her chest.

"I know, I know..." Jill soothed, stroking her girl's hair as she whimpered in protest. They were alive, they were together and they'd faced down her mother but still it wasn't over...

"Just wait 'til I get you on that plane..." Ada complained in a muffled voice, before sitting bolt upright in her lap with a strange confused look on her face. Jill frowned – what was the matter?

"This is... so strange..." Ada suddenly said in a hilariously husky voice. "We're... from different sides of this conflict – we can't be together, it just… wouldn't work…!" she said dramatically, looking wistfully away, plainly fighting to keep a straight face. Jill had no such luck – she burst out laughing with relieved delight.

Leaping to her feet, Ada ran over to the railing and took hold of a fold of the curtain. Jill joined in, reaching after her in her best 'star-crossed lover, confused and hurt' sort of way. "Until next time we meet… farewell!" Ada called, blowing a kiss in a ridiculously theatrical way before leaping back to slide down the curtain to the floor.

"I'll get your bag; could you pick up my sho-ahhh!!"

A ripping, snapping sound was joined with a surprised scream as the curtain came loose from its hooks above and the whole thing, Ada and all, plummeted to the ground below! Darting to the railing, Jill saw it had landed in a huge mess on the carpet below.

"Adi! Talk to me, baby – are you okay?!" she cried, leaping down as safely and quickly as she could, onto one of the tables. There was no movement...this couldn't be happening! Don't... what was that?

As she ran up, a lump in the curtain stirred and started worming its way about, finally reaching an edge. Ada's head protruded from under the curtain with a look of huge embarrassment, the curtain hanging round her head like a hood.

"Are you okay?" Jill huffed, racing up to her and kneeling down and taking hold of her.

"Damn it!" Ada yelled. "I do this kind of stuff all the time, but in front of you, when I want to look cool..." her girl complained bitterly, looking outraged as Jill burst out laughing.

"Aw – I'm sorry baby girl!" Jill soothed, cuddling her and pointing to her reflection in the mirror. "You look awfully cute though...! No, don't!" she chided as Ada tried to rip the curtain off, before finally looking and laughed with embarrassment. She flopped back into Jill's arms.

"So... I've met the parents... we're really in trouble now!" Jill said, stroking her hair gently after some time had passed.

"You'll have to make an honest woman of me now!" Ada retorted. Neither of them wanted to dwell on what they had seen, but someone had to...

"I'm sorry for being so useless back there – you were right; I couldn't do it or I thought I couldn't... I don't know what I thought" Ada managed at length, cuddling up to her.

"Don't say that – you were great!" protested Jill.

"I froze" Ada replied simply. "I was a little girl crying for her mommy..."

"You were fabulous" insisted Jill, stroking her.

"So I guess... we are going to have to do it, right? We can't leave her like this..." Ada pondered thoughtfully looking into the mirror.

"Perhaps... we'll do what we have to when the time comes. Maybe it won't come to that – I think you really got to her near the end there" Jill soothed. It seemed that Ada's mother still held some love for her daughter – most evident when she'd tried to murder the 'inappropriate bad influence girlfriend...'

Ada was still gazing into the mirror looking at her reflection in what weak light remained now the chandelier was destroyed: "Red riding hood..." she laughed, pointing to the hood. She seemed fascinated by the reflection. Jill coddled her close.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" she cooed to Ada, wrapping about her and motioning to the reflection.

"Stop it" Ada blushed. "Cute's not a look I usually go for..."

"That's not what I meant – I mean it feels good to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and not see what your mother sees anymore, right? She was wrong about you and you made her see it -you see what I see in there now..."

Ada shrugged, but she did seem a little calmer at heart now, less willing to believe bad of herself. This had been an ordeal alright, but it had been a step in the right direction for her girl.


	23. Chapter 23

**Alive Again.**

**By C S Sinclair.**

**Chapter Twenty Three.**

"Jill, it's coming - I have to push! Get over here!" Ada shouted, wincing with the effort.

"Just a second, baby... I'll be right there!" Jill called from somewhere nearby. A shudder ran through her body. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out...

"There! No... one more I think. Push, baby, you're doing great!" Jill called, planting a quick kiss on her before darting away again. Ada cried out in exasperation, muscles on fire, sweat beading off her. It was coming...

"There!" Jill declared triumphantly, staggering back as she dumped a final crate onto the floor and pushed it against the pile already stacked up against the door.

With this added weight bracing against the door and with Jill finally lending her shoulder to the effort, the tremendous bangs and shudders grew less and less forceful, until they eventually heard a howl of frustration - the creature had it seemed, moved off to find easier prey...

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, they relaxed at last, slumping against the crates to catch their breath. Seeing she was covered in dust and dirt, Ada tutted and started dusting herself down – she was sure that tear was getting bigger...

"Will you leave it _alone_ - you're the one making it bigger, by picking at it!" Jill scolded, leaning over to flap her hands from her sides.

"It's fine and I know what I'm doing, _Mom_!" Ada retorted.

"Fine, have it your way – just don't come crying to me when it widens even more and... actually yes, pick away at it all you like!" Jill replied with a grin, earning a light cuff on the arm from Ada.

Feeling a chilly breeze run through her suddenly, Ada turned to get a proper look at the room. Actually though, room wasn't really the right word – the area they were standing in now seemed to be some kind of natural cave. Their curiosity aroused, they paced around, examining these new surroundings.

Aside from a small docks area around the door piled with crates and the like, the cave was filled with dark, still water that stretched off into the distance. A few moderately sized and exquisitely crafted gondolas bobbed silently nearby, moored at a series of small jetties jutting out over the water. They seemed to be the only way forward.

"You okay?" Jill asked, embracing her from behind, linking her arms about her middle. "I was just teasing before; you're not mad are you?" she asked, to which Ada simply leaned back against her.

"Looks like we have to..." Ada pointed at the gondolas, unable to mask the anxiety in her voice, trying to deflect any enquiries by inspecting Jill's bandaged hand.

"It's fine – looks worse than it is" Jill answered swiftly, squeezing her comfortingly. Here it came... "You... don't like boats?"

Ada shrugged: "It's not boats as such; I mean I do know how to pilot stuff – quick getaways and all... I've just never been that wild about the water, really..." she added, seeing a mental image of a huge mutated alligator rising and snapping at her with its impossibly large jaws...

"So..." Jill mused mischievously, rocking side to side with her, "...if we were to buy a swimming pool say, you wouldn't want to use it with me... well, that's a shame... "

"I didn't say that!" Ada cried, looking round at her, before realizing she was being teased again, for which Jill received another light slap. "I'm just saying that given the choice, I'd rather not go on the water, but we have to, so let's go." she finished firmly, pushing thoughts of the reptilian terror out of her mind. "I mean, if you really _wanted_ to get us a swimming pool, I wouldn't stop you..." she also added, trying not to sound too eager.

Jill chuckled and nuzzled her hair, before pressing her cheek against hers and nudging her to face the water-logged tunnel that stretched away before them: "What do you see out there, baby?" she asked softly.

Ada looked out, but saw nothing but water and a few dim lanterns lighting the way: "Down there you mean? Well... you're teasing again, aren't you? Because if you are... you mentioned the pool, not me!" she insisted defiantly. Jill couldn't know about that thing with the alligator, could she? It had frightened the life out of her, so she'd never told anyone... and anyway, that incident involved Leon, and Jill got very tense and irritable whenever he was mentioned...

"Mia-ow! I'm not up to anything this time, kitty! I just thought... pale light, an old passage deep underground, a gondola ride with my girl... seems romantic to me..." she whispered.

Ada smiled in wonder, seeing the passage seem to soften before her eyes, the lanterns eerie light looking darkly bewitching... the water shining like a silvery, rain-soaked road... She leant back and kissed her girl, marvelling again at how safe and loved, Jill always managed to make her feel.

"How are we doing for supplies?" she asked, as Jill handed her the bag to stow in the bottom of the boat.

"Not bad" Jill replied, walking over to fetch one of the long metal poles from the nearby rack. "We're okay for pistol ammo for now – I found some whilst I was looking for you; they should be in a blue bag near the side..."

"Got them" Ada confirmed, gripping the sides of the boat for support as Jill stepped down into the boat. "Got enough food for a while too... any of those nut bars left?" she asked, rooting through.

"Not after you ate them all, no!" Jill admonished, poking the pole into the water to find the bottom.

"Hey, they're _really_ nice - I can't help it if I like them!" Ada shrugged, happier than she could probably ever explain to her girl, to be so utterly content, talking about something so trivial.

Before she could ponder this further however, Jill gave a few test strokes, pushing them off. After a bit of an awkward start in which they did several' victory laps' of the cave (which she cheerfully heckled Jill about), they finally set off at more confident speed into the mouth of the passageway. A bit of fiddling with some matches Jill had found, and Ada (behaving now, since Jill had splashed her) lit an old lantern hooked onto the end of the gondola, which provided even more light to dispel the murk up ahead.

Adjusting to the patches of intense darkness and light, it soon became apparent that the passage was more properly worked by hand than the cave from before. The architecture looked extremely old however – archways, stone balconies along the sides of the passage, statues of warriors, priests and scholars - all were falling into deep disrepair from the sad state of them. In the case of the statues however, this was perhaps just as well...

Ada shook her head, smiling and indicating a large statue of a man holding his own skin in his hands... "What a lovely thing to see on our romantic boat trip..."

"Of course, when I said 'romantic', what I really meant was... dark and extremely creepy..." muttered Jill, shrinking away in distaste from the sometimes gruesome images on the walls. "I was thinking next, we should get married in an abattoir..."

Ada grinned - another joke about marriage; was that the third or fourth one, now? Back in the 'real world', many would consider their being together to be the kind of freak show that truly belonged among all this 'otherness'... It was a reminder that they could expect never to fit in, but as long as they let each other know that they only wanted to be together, they'd make it work somehow, survive whatever came...

...What had they been talking about? She'd lost the train of thought... but this was exactly what she meant, though – a statue of a man flayed alive and the conversation had come round to them considering civil partnership! She settled happily in the bow of the boat, watching her girl punting the water with slow delicate strokes. Square pegs, the both of them...

"Guess it's more like the Umbrella we all know and love, though..." mused Jill aloud. "Typically crazy..."

Ada looked about: "I don't think this can be them... or Mother, you know what I mean. It's too old and it doesn't fit with everything else we've seen down here. Mother seemed to be trying to make those girls feel safe and give them a fantasy home they could love – I doubt this was part of it" she offered.

Jill nodded, obviously impressed (Ada felt ten feet tall under her girl's approving gaze): "I guess so. I suppose I just took it for granted that these wacky places went hand in hand with Umbrella now. But this part must be built on some really old foundations, you're right. Never really think someone's had to build it..."

She felt silent suddenly, lost in some private memory (which as usual, Ada was intensely curious about, but could think of no polite means to ask about it). Feeling rather lonely with her girl away, she searched for a fresh topic.

"Don't you think those Hunters were a bit odd too?" she said, after a sudden brainwave.

"Hmm... how'd you mean?" Jill asked, shaken from her reverie. "They're hideously clawed killing machines... they seem pretty odd full stop to me!" she shrugged, shivering slightly in the cold, Ada noticed. Funny... she hadn't noticed a breeze on her just then...

"You okay?" she asked Jill. "Want me to take over for a bit?"

Jill shook her head, in a seemingly casual way, but Ada couldn't help feeling she was hiding something... or was she? She might just still be thinking about... whatever she'd been thinking about.

"Well... Mother did seem sincere about wanting to make those girls safe; thought of it as taking something good out of something terrible like the T-Virus, right?"she pressed on, convinced she was worrying over nothing. "So... why are there Hunters here? Surely she doesn't think the world would be better with _them_ running about, and you have to engineer them, not just release the T-Virus sample like she did... I don't understand" she finished, keeping a close eye on Jill now.

"Maybe... I don't know actually" Jill pondered thoughtfully. "Security, perhaps? Even if your Mother didn't believe in the need for them, Umbrella might have insisted on it or something... They've got that court case going and all... not that that will probably get anywhere" she sighed bitterly.

She motioned for Ada to keep a lookout as they rounded a bend in the passage. More unwholesome statues of old saints and holy crusaders stared out from the darkness in grim martyrdom. "I hope the girls wore blindfolds when they came down this way" she added.

Ada dropped her head, thinking of the terrible fate that had befallen the girls that had lived here. Mother's plan... using them to spread 'goodness' and pureness of spirit to the world or whatever she'd been raving about... It all sounded so insane, but was it any less believable than the T-Virus – who would really believe it if you told them zombies and bio-weaponized creatures were real, after all?

Looking up at Jill, she decided that it really wasn't that hard to believe at all. Before she'd met Jill, she'd just been going through the motions of life, barely alive at all really. She'd told a thousand people she loved them to get close to them and what information they had, or just to complete a hit... but saying it to Jill; it was like music, because at long last she actually meant it.

Sitting here in the middle of all this insanity, she'd find herself thinking about... stupid little things like decorating their house, devising strategies for winning Jeanie over to like her... the kind of things the person she'd been a few months ago would never have thought about...

In fact, she'd have called it 'going soft' - a term popular among spies, trying to convince themselves that being apart from society and having no-one who cared about them was somehow a higher form of living. They could sneer all they wanted though – she'd take 'going soft' over the cheap thrills of exciting her death wish over how lonely and hopeless her life (or non-life) had been, any day. Being with Jill, doing anything with her girl made her so happy...

'Like angels going out to save the world', Mother had said. Looking at Jill and all she'd done for her, allowed her to become... she hoped her mother would think better of trying to save her girls by killing them. It was awful to think she might be out there right now, hunting them down.

"It is sad about what's happened to them, isn't it?" Jill commented, picking up on what she was thinking about, as usual. "But it's not your fault and if you say it is one more time, I'm going to come over there..."

"I'm not, honestly!" Ada protested, sitting up to show she really was being strong about this now.

"... and box your ears! Well... good, keep that chin up, young lady" Jill nodded, satisfied.

Jill held her hands up and crossed her heart, inclining her head in a sweet angelic way. Jill appeared mollified finally and went back to her punting... she was doing it again – shivering! What was going on, she wondered, starting to get worried. Jill _couldn't_ have caught anything – she'd checked her for injuries in case she was trying to hide anything and she'd barely taken her eyes off her since they'd met the other night...

"Ah-ha!" she exclaimed, standing up and setting the Gondola rocking alarmingly.

"What – what is it?!" Jill asked, regaining her balance and looking about.

"Don't give me that, you – I saw what you just did!" Ada tutted, moving forward and sitting in the middle of the boat, indicating that Jill should do likewise.

"I... what are you talking about?" Jill protested rather weakly, before obeying Ada's stern glare to sit.

"You clenched your fist like you were in pain, you've been shivering for a while now and... look, you're sweating through your clothes! What's the matter, baby – tell me this instant!" she demanded, kneeling down in front of Jill.

Jill rolled her eyes as Ada took her temperature and pulled the pole in: "It's... it's nicotine withdrawl" she confessed, sighing. "I forgot to bring any cigs with me when we left – I've been absolutely _dying_ for one for hours now..."

Ada realized her mouth had dropped open and snapped it shut, before breathing out a huge sigh and kissing Jill on the knee... before cuffing her hard on the arm.

"Why didn't you say anything?! You've been running, fighting, now you're doing all the work here, too when you should be resting!" Ada clucked, searching through the bag for food and water.

"Baby... don't make a fuss" Jill tried, but Ada ignored her, forcing her to take a few swigs of bottled water and get started on some sandwiches.

"Honestly, trying to be the hero all the time... Baby, we both get to be the princess now and then!" she said, enjoying this chance to scold her, relieved beyond belief that it wasn't anything more serious.

"I'll be fine; I'm toughing it out" Jill mumbled. "Doing the rowing's taking my mind off it – I don't suppose you..."

"Quit" Ada said, shaking her head apologetically.

Jill closed her eyes and her head and shoulders sagged – Ada kissed her forehead and hugged her comfortingly, before taking up the punt and installing her at the front.

"I suppose you just stopped when you changed character, did you? Just another part of the disguise or something – if only it was that easy for me..." Jill complained, clutching the side of the boat, but seeming to perk up at the food and drink.

Ada nodded: "That's right, but trust me; you wouldn't want to live like that. I never became addicted because... I never really thought of myself in terms of things I needed or wanted. It was just what things I had to have or be able to do in order to complete my assignments... 'I' never entered into the equation at all..." she admitted.

Jill looked deeply ashamed: "Hey, I wasn't... I didn't mean anything... I'm not putting this on you, baby!"

Ada was just assuring her she knew that, when they both heard it... the faint sound of crying echoing from up ahead. Looking up, they saw the tunnel opened up into a much larger cavern. The lanterns continued on fixed at intervals, directed them to another passage, but the crying was coming from further inside the cave... where there were no lanterns.

"You hear that?" they asked each other, straining to get a good look. There was definitely someone – a girl it sounded like – crying down there. In the gloom, faint rays of light (moonbeams filtering through from the surface most likely), shone off some kind of large structure rising out of the water.

Jill pointed, indicating several large rock formations jutting out of the water, as well as a rocky shelf nearby, which they could use to get a better look...

"Should we?" Ada asked.

Jill shrugged: "It's probably one of those girls... we can't just leave her there like that, can we?" she reasoned.

Although afraid to bring it up, the old story of the sirens had occurred to Ada – her mother had often told her the tale as a girl and it had always preyed on her mind. 'Don't worry' her mother had said, 'They only prey on men, women are immune to their calls...' Just looking at the pictures in those books, she'd felt so sad for the siren on her little rock with no-one to talk to – she really should have got the message right there...

"Jill, when I was coming to find you, there was this thing that happened..." she started recalling the strange phenomenon with the lights, unable however to believe she was even saying it.

"Shh, take us over to that shelf of rock first!" hissed Jill, listening and watching out. Hearing the conviction and determination in her girl's voice brought Ada to her senses – it must be one of the girls and they had to help her. She was just being silly with all that other talk... wasn't she?

Picking up the punt, she steered the boat about as Jill put out the lantern. Quietly, they glided up to the shelf, disembarking to see if they could make out exactly who and what was up ahead. Stealthily, they crawled forward, finding that the shelf was unfortunately rather short. Still, it was better than nothing...

"What... what are you _doing_?!" Jill yelped, quietly as Ada scrambled over her prone form and came to a rest enveloping her.

"Trying to get a good view!" Ada whispered innocently.

"By lying on top of me?!" Jill asked incredulously.

"I try to make that a feature of as many of my plans as possible!" Ada explained, kissing her head. "Actually... all my plans, really!"

Giggling quietly, they peered into the cavern. The structure ahead seemed to be some kind of pentagonal gazebo or folly standing alone in the water-logged cavern. With a domed roof and open balconied surround, it looked like it was stocked with benches, tables and the like. The crying was definitely coming from here, but whilst they could make out someone moving every now and then, it was impossible to see who.

"If I'd brought my binoculars... damn it! Did I remember to bring _anything_?!" Jill lamented, as Ada nuzzled her to calm her down. 'You brought the both of us – that's good enough!' she thought and made sure her girl knew how she felt.

"Well, I guess... wait, you hear that now?! Sounds like motors... jetskis maybe?!" Jill whispered. Remembering she hadn't checked her phone for a while, she reached into her purse and sure enough... she showed it to Jill.

"Message from Deb... Black helicopters... coming your way... armed... oh wonderful!" Jill moaned, as they both produced their guns. The engines were almost here, approaching from behind the structure. Whoever was on there had also heard and had leapt up. A moonbeam fell across her face...

"It's... it's her, the one who tried to cut herself, just after we arrived!" Ada breathed, Jill nodding to confirm this.

At that moment however, the cavern boomed with the sound of motor engines as two sets of headlamps raced out of the dark, soon revealed as jetskis ridden by black clad soldiers from what little they could make out – Umbrella mercenaries no doubt. Revving their engines, they circled the structure a few times, until they came to a rest at either end. The girl, literally caught in the headlights, cowered down underneath a table.

Ada looked at Jill, gripping her pistol. Jill nodded, but pointed to her eyes and waving her hand in the direction of the cavern. Ada understood – it was very dark over there, the men could have any kind of weapons and armour, plus who knew how many more were in the vicinity? It was definitely a risk. Jill gripped her arm however – her look said it all: 'We have to do something!'

"Raise your hands above your head!" one of the men suddenly barked loudly, causing them both to flatten even further until they realized it was the girl who was being addressed. "Throw any weapon you might have into the water!" called the other.

The girl didn't respond, but remained cowering in fright. One of the soldiers revved his engine menacingly. "Hands above your head now! Tell us where Marion Fontaine is! Can you understand me?!" Seeming to give up, he fumbled about, and a buzz of static reached their ears – he was calling in!

As one, they jumped up into low crouches and opened fire. A storm of shots peppered the area around the jetski, as the girl screamed in terror. A cry of agony went out accompanied by the flash and roar of a submachine gun firing out into the air as its owner collapsed backwards and into the water with an almighty splash.

"Down!" Jill shouted leaping on her and pressing her down as shots flashed overhead, the other solider unleashing a wild salvo in their general direction. The sound of the shots still ringing in her ears, Ada fought Jill off and peeked up in time to see the headlights of the remaining Jetski move at speed round the edge of the cavern and behind a large outcropping.

Tugging at her sleeve, Jill offered up her last Flash Grenade, indicating Ada should take it. Ada frowned: "But where will you be?"

Jill pointed at the water and made a swimming motion, before pressing the grenade at her, but Ada refused. "Ohh no" she whispered, "I'll go. You..." (Jill opened her mouth to protest) "... You need to save your strength. I'm going and that's final!" she finished, pecking her on the cheek and wriggling back along the shelf.

Reaching the boat, she kept a watchful eye on the rock formation. Another buzz and some calls indicated that he was trying to call for help, but finding it hard to get a signal. He wouldn't stay there long though. Snatching up the punt and trying hard not to think of alligators and any other huge mutated marine life, Ada slipped into the water and started kicking as quietly as she could towards the formation, glancing back to receive the signal from Jill.

A frantic waving gesture caused her to take a deep breath and plunge her head under, whilst being careful to keep her gun above the water. Rays of light streaming past her into the abyssal murk (the water was much deeper here, it seemed) and the sound of a muffled explosion overhead, was her cue to pull up. Gasping and shaking her head to clear it, she quickly nosed over to the rock and clambered up, pressing against it and straining for any sound...

Working her way slowly around, she heard the man, cursing to himself and obviously in distress. Readying her gun, she heard the jetski engine suddenly roar to life. Dropping the pistol to the side, she took the pole in both hands and leapt round. A blaze of light from the headlights heralded the onrushing vehicle, and she stabbed just above these with all her might.

There was a jarring thud and the sensation of the pole meeting and overcoming sudden resistance with a wince-inducing _crunch_. Screaming out loud as pain shot up her arm again to her shoulder, Ada dropped the pole and collapsed down, scrabbling for her gun , hearing Jill call out in concern as she did so. The jetski whined and spluttered to an abrupt stop nearby as its rider was unseated and had fallen heavily onto the rock face first.

Groaning and obviously badly hurt, the man struggled to his knees... to find Ada pointing her pistol at his forehead. In the darkness, she couldn't make out much of his features. It was just as well – it would make this easier. It was him or them... She was shivering and she knew it wasn't just the cold. This was the sort of thing she really didn't want to have to do anymore. He lifted his hands slowly in surrender...

And she put a bullet through his skull.

Rubbing a hand over her face, she staggered back from the corpse gloating gently away and looked over to see Jill standing up on the rock shelf, looking over to her. She nodded, shivering badly, fighting back the urge to vomit.

"I... I'm okay!" she called. "This is your fault, you know!" she called with an attempted laugh: "This used to be so easy for me..." she finished with a sob.

"Stay right there, baby – I'm coming to get you now!" Jill called.

"No, you should be taking it easy!" Ada called weakly, but mentally urging her girl to hurry up and get here. It felt good, strangely; feeling this bad about it... She smiled at how clichéd that was, and walked down to the water's edge, not wanting to be apart from Jill for a second more than she had to.

A scream reached their ears, just as Jill was getting into the water, having left her stuff in the boat. Looking over, they saw movement on the structure. Calling out in fear, the girl was backing away as a figure pulled itself up onto the platform – the other man was still alive!

Without thinking, they both dived forward and started swimming, making for each other first as they forged forward. This was likely a very stupid move, but she sounded so terrified – they just had to stop this! Reaching each other, they swam alongside, unable to touch or talk but hugely relieved nonetheless. Now they just had to save her... Arriving at the foot of the structure, Jill cupped her hands and boosted Ada up, kissing her quickly on the mouth as she ascended.

"Be careful!" she called as she pushed her up.

Flattening her hands on the platform, Ada leapt up ready for anything... anything but the sight which greeted her. The man was kneeling nearby, looking over at her in strained agony. Blood seeped from his chest where he had been shot, but this wasn't was drew Ada's attention. His left arm was jutting out at a terribly unnatural angle, his right leg also. Hissing and gurgling, it seemed his windpipe had been crushed. Ada was astounded at the brutality of the injuries... it couldn't be...

Reaching out for help, the man collapsed forward, revealing the girl standing just behind him, seeming to materialize out of the darkness. Still missing her mask, her face was contorted with fear and rage; she was wielding another bloodstained punting pole in her hands... Ada noticed dimly that the cuts she had made on her face earlier seemed healed over already, little more than a slight scarring now...

Jill abruptly surged up from below, pulling herself onto the platform beside her. Ada reached slowly back, desperate not to provoke the girl. Jill squeezed her with one arm, but relaxed her grip slightly, gasping as she took in the scene. Stunned, they looked at each other, lost for what to do.

Another gurgling hiss emanated from the man as he tried to crawl across the platform to where they were standing. Before they could decide on a course of action, the girl leapt forward, crying out a sob of fear and anger, bringing the pole down with an awful crunch onto the man's head. He fell limply against the stone, but the girl kept hitting, pounding frenziedly again and again with vicious, bloody, bone shattering blows.

Aghast, Ada gripped tightly to Jill who was equally transfixed with horror. She wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't. She knew exactly the kind of hopeless despair the girl must be feeling to be able to do this. Alone and scared, feeling like nobody cared, like everyone was out to get her... For years she had carried a similar raging despair inside - before Jill had saved her. Now this girl needed them to save her – they had to help her...


End file.
